AN IMMQRTAI 




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CP<. 




MAN IMMORTAL. 



ALLEGORICAL POEM. 



BY y 

WM. STITT TAYLOR. 



J3 



T 

We shall not die." — Habakkuk, i. 12. 






PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
1891. 



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Copyright, 1891, by J. B, Lippincott Company. 



All rights reserved. 



To the sainted loved ones 

Of hallowed memory, 

Who have already reached 

The "hills of light," 

And to all those 

Now contending 

In this mortal fight. 

Who are comforted and sustained, 

Amid the shadows 

Of life's battle-night, 

By the grandest of hopes 

Which God e'er gave, — 

That of a blessed immortality 

Beyond the grave, — 

This work is affectionately dedicated, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



nio: ^?'? 



" Lo-namouth /" 

" We shall not die!''' 
Cxrand announcement 

From the sky. 
In the sacred 

Hebrew tongue, 
Hope for all 

The years to come. 
Sublimely down 

The centuries sweeping, 
In Almighty 

Accents speaking. 
Glory waiteth now 

For clay ! 
Incorruption 

On decay! 
Eternity gildeth 

Carnal gloom ! 
Earth is fruition's 

Ante-room ! 
1* 



For, midst the wreck 
Of mortal strife, 

I plant the standard 
Of eternal life. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction 9 

I. — Immortality's Greeting 17 

II. — Appeal of Nature 21 

III. — Immortality to Nature 41 

IV. — Claim of Time 55 

V. — Immortality to Time 71 

VI. — Suit of Death 85 

VII. — Immortality to Death Ill 

VIII. — Declaration of the Grave 127 

IX. — Immortality to the Grave 151 

X. — Defence of Hell 167 

XI. — Immortality to Hell 185 

XII. — Prayer of Man 215 

XIII. — Immortality to Man 239 



INTRODUCTION. 



There is a time, 

'Twixt eve and morn, 
When the soul, 

From Earth's care borne, 
Mounteth up, 
And seeming its house 

Of flesh to flee. 
Attests 

Its Immortality. 

'Tvvas 'midst the nightmare 

Of a troubled sleep ; 
It seemed as though 

Upon an angry deep, 
On an ocean 

Without shore, 
A castaway 

Despised, forsaken ; 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

When, as though 

By some good angel taken, 
1 drifted to the boundaries 

Of the evermore. 
There I had a vision. 
It was ecstasy in elysian. 

And a single moment of it o'er 
More than repaid me 
For all the troubles 

I had ever known before. 
But what tongue of dust 

Can tell that story? 
What eye of Earth 

E'er beheld such matchless glory? 
What finite mind 

Could of such heights conceive ? 
Or mortal Man 

The veriest of its truths believe? 
Not a single word 

Had yet been spoken 
From out the glamour 

Of that splendor broken ; 
But as I lay there, 
Entranced in rapture. 

Bathing in that golden tide, 
Suddenly, from out the brightness, 
A radiant form 



INTRODUCTION. H 

Came to my side, 
And in tones of wondrous clearness, 

With a cadence sweet and low. 
Bent above and whispered to me, 

'•' Come, we're ready now to go." 
Willingly I obeyed the summons; 

Anxious was I to be free; 
Eager to reach that better country 

I had yearned so long to see. 
So I quickly rose and followed, 

And, as we journeyed on, 
A mount of nameless grandeur 
Eose before us 
That some glorious object 

Seemed to rest upon. 
Surely, thought I, 
This is Heaven ; 
Here's the land 

Which hath no night. 
Farewell, Earth! 
I've reached its fulness, 
I'm out of darkness 

Into light. 
But scarce had another step been taken 

Towards that nearing glory-land, 
When lo ! without a moment's warning, 

We met and joined a wondrous band, 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

Each, like myself, attended 

By a glorious angel guide, 
Wbo, seemingly afraid lest aught befall, 

Kept constantly at their side. 
One of these was old and feeble, 

Weary-worn with care ; 
His limbs, they tottered as he walked, 
And like a snow-drift 

Was his hair. 
One was a very giant, 

And frightful to behold ; 
He strode along 
Like a conqueror, 

With a mien majestic and bold. 
Another was grim and ghastly, 

With a hollow, hideous leer. 
And mould was clinging to his clothes. 

Which savored of the bier. 
Another still was black as midnight. 

With a fearfully distorted face, 
On which both gloom, remorse, despair, — 

All seemed to have a place. 
But one — the last of all the train — 
Was beautiful as the dawn 

And lovely as Eden's bowers : 
Her hair was woven of sunlight, 

And her vestments were garlands of flowers. 



INTR OD UCTION. 13 

A rare perfume hung around her, 

Which ladened all of the air, 
And, even with angel attendants, 

She seemed the fairest being there. 
Thus — a strangely-mixed procession — 

We continued our onward way. 
Until at last we reached the mount 

Bathed in effulgent day, 
Where, in waiting to receive us, 

Stood a blest, immortal band. 
With one who high above them sat enthroned, 

Like a ruler in the land. 
A dazzling lustre hid her face. 

Shining forms about her flew ; 
A burning light flashed from her brow, 
Which, far out into surrounding space. 

Wondrous rays of beauty threw. 
Heavenly incense filled the air. 

Clouds of flame about her hung, 
While anthems such as ear ne'er heard 

Were by hosts seraphic sung. 
Speechless with wonder. 

On that gorgeous scene I gazed. 
Though almost blinded by its brightness, 

And by its grandeur dazed ; 
Yet feeling, as I looked the while. 

Pleasures such as earth ne'er craved ; 
2 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

Joys unutterable in being there ; 

Raptures infinite in feeling saved. 
A moment only 

Did the vision last. 
I looked again, 

And it had passed, — 
Passed like a meteor 

Athwart the sky, — 
Passed like the lightning's 

Flash on high. 
Leaving naught save a shining one 

To guard our band, 
And she enthroned 

Who ruled the land. 
Who now, with voice 

As of the spheres. 
Which fell like Heaven 

Upon mine ears. 
Asked of the angel 

Standing near, 
"Who and whence came 

These beings here?" 
Thus addressed, the angel 

Bowed her head, 
Bent the knee. 

And slowly said, 
" Here is Time and Nature, 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

Death and Hell, 
Victorious Grave, 

And Man, who fell : 
All come that they 

Thy glories now may see; 
Come to tell 

What grounds there he 
On which they found 

Their claims to thee, 

Immortality! to thee. 
But, I have told them, 

One and all. 
Thou art not 

Of the Earth at all. 
None of her subjects 
Bear thy royal seal. 
That realm of bliss 

Which alone is thine 
Lies be3-ond this 'vale of tears,' 

Bej-ond the boundaries of Time. 
Ah, j-es ! thou art 
Of a fairer clime. 

Of infinitely greater worth 
And nobler lineage 

Than aught of Earth. 
This vapor-like existence, 

This fleeting breath, 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

This cumbersome mortality 
Wiiich dissolves in Death ; 

This charnel-house of Nature, 
Where virtue fell, 

This fallen planet 
Which peoples Hell, 
Are all unknown to thee. 

Thy home is in the ' many mansions/ 
Beside the 'jasper sea,' 

And th}'' name is 
God's own eternity." 

A pause which seemed 

With destiny endued, 
And then, raethought, 

In tones subdued, 
This wondrous 

Colloquy ensued. 



I. 



2* 



1 



IMMORTALITY'S GREETING. 



Creatures of alien 

Climes afar, 
Ye who here 

As suppliants are, 
Dire creations 

For blighted strands. 
Fallen beings 

From sin-cursed lands. 
Mortal striplings, 

Finite things, 
"Who fain would drink 

Of immortal springs. 
Slake thy thirst 

At founts on high ; 
Quaif of me 

And never die. 
Though surely 

'Tis a thing untold, 
For light a conference 

"With its shades to hold ; 
Still, that listening Earth 

19 



20 IMMORTALITY'S GREETING. 

The truth may know 
Concerning the part 

Each plays below 
In God's stupendous, 

Wondrous plan, 
Which compasseth the eternal 

Life of Man, — 
For this once 

I bend mine ear, 
And will in patience 

Thy petitions hear, 
Although in truth 

I greatly fear 
There is very little 

That's not mortal here; 
While perchance, of thee all 

Regenerate, a single one, 
Who, through much tribulation, 

May to glory come. 
But of this anon. 

Now may each in brief relate 
The claims possessed 

To my estate. 
And as, in turn. 

These pleas are told. 
Then to each an answer 

I'll unfold. 



II. 

S[ppeal of Mtmt. 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 



O THOU being, 

Blest of light! 
Custodian grand 

Of regions bright 
Bordering on 

The crystal sea, 
Rising, boundless, 

To eternity. 
E'en the realms 

Of bliss above, 
For aye illumed 

With Godhead's love ; 
Dazzling heights 

Of mounts divine. 
Towering o'er 

The vales of Time ; 
Celestial regions, 

Glory's land 
Of deathless shoi'e 

And graveless strand ; 

23 



24 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

Populous 

With angelic throngs, 
Eesonant 

With seraphic songs, 
Where the tree 

Of healing grows, 
Where life's river 

Ever flows 
By the throne 

Of monarchs' King, 
To which all worlds 

Their homage bring; 
Clad in robes 

Of matchless state. 
In audience here 

At Heaven's gate ; 
Vision fair 

Of endless day. 
Glorious insignia 

Of Almighty sway, 
Sublime impersonation 

Of eternal truth, 
Majestic exponent 

Of unaging youth, 
Priestess holy 

At beings' shrine, 
Empress regent 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 25 

Of its natal climo. 
'Tis Nature; I, 

"Who first to thee, — 
The representative 

Of sovereignty, — 
In regal obeisance 

Bends the knee. 
As becometh a vassal 

Of Divinity; 
For though thy home 

Is with the King, 
From -whence dominion 

All doth spring; 
And while thy sway 

For evermore 
Doth sweep the Heaven 

Of heavens o'er ; 
Still, not even this 

Doth all include, — 
God's empire 

Is infinitude, — 
And e'en such compass 

Scarce defines 
The bounds in which 

His glory shines ; 
For, outreaching far 

Angelic flight, 
3 



26 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

Exists the structures 

Of His might. 
Beyond all space 

His word hath formed, 
His presence blessed, 

And love adorned; 
To all immensity 

His work extends; 
There is no point 

At which it ends. 
And o'er these regions 

Vast, sublime, — 
Creations all 

Of hands divine, — 
From where the farthermost 

World had birth 
E'en down to this 

That's called " the Earth ;" 
O'er this wide range, 

Arrayed in light, — 
A veritable wilderness 

Of systems bright, — 
With thickets dense 

Of orbs serene, 
Which flash afar 

In gold and green ; 
From out a labyrinth 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 27 

Of blinding suns, 
Which line the course 

The comet runs, 
And with burning luminaries 

Swurra, like bees, 
About the boughs 

Of blazing trees, 
Where flaming planets 

Crowd the ground, 
'Midst fiery sentinels 

Clustered round 
In starry galaxies 

Which, like the sand, 
With constellations 

Strew the strand, 
And fringe with glory 

O'er and o'er 
The uttermost bounds 

Of beings' shore, 
As on and on 

In glistening spheres. 
Up and up 

In glittering tiers. 
They stretch and widen 

Into space. 
Mirroring forth 

Their Maker's face 



28 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

In Hercules' 

And Orion's sway, 
Aquila's splendor 

And the Bear's display, 
The Pleiades 

And Milky-Way, 
Zodiacal wonders 

And Aurora's day. 
Stellar dust 

And mistings gray 
From the glowing 

"Worlds away, — 
Every luminous speck 

A star, 
Blistering centres 

At points afar, 
With numberless satellites 

Thronged around, 
Which roll and soar 

In depths profound; 
Magnitude 

On magnitude, 
Each in its own 

Beatitude, 
Ever, ever 

Towering high, 
Story by story, 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 29 

Through the sky, 
Until about the throne 

They stand, 
The outposts 

Of a subject land, 
And o'er every realm 

In this domain — 
Of which thine own's 

The suzerain — 
I rule by grace. 

In adoration 
Behold me, Heaven : 

I am Creation. 
Of a lineage 

Like to thine, 
In the self-same 

Royal line. 
Crowned and sceptred 

Just like thee, 
Sister queens 

Of Deity, 
Reigning o'er 

Dominions wide. 
Kingdom and province, 

Side by side. 
Only thou 

At empire's seat; 
3* 



30 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

I the footstool 

For its feet. 
Thou the elder, 

Hence, of right, 
Thine the throne 

Supreme in light. 
But though I serve 

While thou dost reign, 
Still, our kinship 

Doth remain. 
Thou mayst disown, 

But ne'er deny- 
That I'm a princess 

From the sky ; 
For, God-created, 

Here I stand 
A member of 

His family band, 
His very child. 

The same as thee 
In common heirship 

To eternity ; 
And with this birthright 

Fixed on high, 
'Tis a thing impossible 

For me to die. 
I therefore claim. 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 31 

As here I bend, 
That, e'en as thou, 

I have no end. 
But come, behold 

My glorious sway. 
E'en 'neath the sun 

Of earthly day. 
Gaze upon 

My living age, 
Open wide 

Its pictured page, 
And through and through 

These marvels grand 
Canst thou not see 

The Father's hand ? 
And is there aught 

Which He hath made 
That is not 

Of eternal grade ? 
Is yon orb's mission 

But to shine 
A little while 

And then decline? 
Are moon and stars 

But fixed about 
To gild the night 

And then go out ? 



32 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

Or e'en this universe, — 

The least of spheres 
With which it runs 

The I'ound of years, 
And yet a mighty, 

Majestic whole. 
With glory crowned 

From pole to pole, — 
Is it a bubble 

Yast and fair, 
But destined 

To dissolve in air? 
Why, God in person 

Staked the ground 
On which these wonderf 

All are found. 
His own blest fingers 

Wove their skies, 
And decked them 

With celestial dyes. 
His Omnipotent self 

Their fabrics framed. 
Invested, beautified. 

And named ; 
And then, as if 

To closer bind, 
To all these charms 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 33 

He added mind ; 
For even here 

Upon this earth 
He gave His very- 
Essence birth, 
Clothed it 

In a form sublime, 
Patterned after 

The Divine, 
Placed it 

At dominion's helm, 
Made it Lord 

Of all the realm ; 
And what an earldom ! 

Come and see 
This gorgeous 

Heavenly dependency: 
See it on its 

Borders grand. 
See its oceans 

Girt with sand. 
See its islands, 

See its strand, 
See its heavens 

And see its land ; 
See it in its 

Verdant powers, 



34 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

See its shrubs 

And leafy towers, 
See its grasses, 

See its bowers. 
See its ferns 

And see its flowers ; 
See it in its 

Eealms of light. 
See its rays' 

Inspiring might. 
See it radiant, 

See it bright, 
See its days 

And see its night; 
See it 'neath its 

Seasons' glow, 
See its buds 

Begin to blow, 
See its golden 

Harvests grow, 
Then its mellowings 

And its snow ; 
See it where its 

Fountains play, 
See its waters' 

Varied sway — 
Eivers, brooks, 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 35 

And rills away — 
From the rising 

To the bay; 
See it in its 

Wide domains, 
See its valleys, 

Hills, and plains, 
Cliffs and crags 

And mountain-chains, 
With the sublimity 

Which o'er them reigns ; 
See it in its 

Prospects fair 
Of tbe sea, the main. 

And air. 
Beauty's sheen 

And grandeur's glare 
Eound the life 

Eesplendent there; 
See it in its 

Boundless store, 
E'er provided 

On before; 
Bounty's yield 

And blessings pour 
All its parts 

And sections o'er ; 



36 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

See it in its 

Harmonies, 
Fellowships, 

And symphonies, 
Glorious, grand 

Affinities 
Grouped in blest 

Communities ; 
See it in its 

Altitudes, 
Fathomless depths, 

And latitudes, 
Circling zones 

And longitudes, 
See the globe 

Which all includes; 
See it in its 

Might secure, 
See it then 

In miniature, — 
Sunbeams, sands, 

And rain-drops pure, — 
See the worlds 

"Which these immure ; 
See it in its 

Little things, — 
Blades and blossoms, 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 37 

Motes and springs, — 
See the majesty 

Its frailty brings 
'Neath the fold 

Of mystery's wings ; 
See its 

Animalcule 
Of infinitesimal 

Quantity, 
Living atoms, 

Bright and free, 
And each endowed 

With destiny; 
See it exultant, 

See it all, — 
In grand divisions 

And globules small, — 
Insect's cell 

And manorial hall, 
Obscure particle 

And sovereign ball; 
And, seeing, tell me. 

Can it be 
That naught of this 

Belongs to thee? 
Why, every mite 

Within this girth 



38 APPEAL OF NATURE. 

Is the offspring wondrous 

Of Omniscient birth. 
The veriest atomy 

Here contained 
The Infinite's handiwork 

By Heaven sustained ; 
While of existence 

Herein rife, 
Whom other than Deity 

Iraparteth life? 
And who else, then, 

I fain would know. 
Could have fashioned Earth 

Or adorned it so? 
And wouldst thou say 

That climes like these. 
In which the very 

Godhead breathes, 
Are not as absolute 

As their King, 
And deathless 

'Neath His sheltering wing? 
But hark ! list to the song. 

Hear the strain from abroad ; 
'Tis Creation's praises 

To its Creator, — God ; 
'Tis the homage of the creature 



APPEAL OF NATURE. 39 

Eising up to the sky, — 
A vast realm adoring 

Its Maker on high ; 
Exhibiting the wisdom 

Which His goodness doth bless, 
Publishing the greatness 

He alone doth possess ; 
Proclaiming the majesty 

Which surroundeth His thi'one. 
While declaring the glory 

Of our Lord alone. 
And surely in these 

My kingdom endures; 
For if they are His, 

Are they not likewise yours? 
And doth not these jewels 

Effulgent in me 
Shine on through the future 

Coexistent with thee? 



III. 

Jfmmoitalitg to ^ntnvt. 



4* 



IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 



Alas! no, fair Creation, 

I am not found in thee. 
For in all of thy glories 

Thou'rt a stranger to me. 
Things eternal and finite 

Can never align, 
So I am not yours, 

Neither canst thou be mine. 
All thy forms and thy beauties 

Exist but a day, 
And are rapidly, 

Eapidly passing away ; 
For though truly by Heaven 

Conceived and designed, — 
A marvel of prowess 

And wisdom combined, — 
And though erstwhile thus fashioned 

By the Father above, 
And resplendently dressed 

In the garb of His love ; 

43 



44 IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 

Though crowned with perfection 

And sceptred with grace, 
And e'en at the throne's step 

Allotted a place 
'Midst the regal and princely 

Of Deity's court, 
With the kingly and priestly 

Of the Lord to consort; 
Though attuned to the paeans 

Of Divinity's praise, 
Throughout all futurit}^ 

Its anthems to raise, 
And though endowed with existence 

As wondrous as God, 
And called to an empire 

In its fulness as broad ; 
Still, these glows were of morning, 

Thy day since hath fled. 
And meridian splendors 

At evening are dead. 
All this was of spring-time, 

But e'en thy summer's now flown. 
And wintry winds howl 

Where the autumn hath blown. 
Such alone thy blest advent, 

In its unequalled prime, 
While, worn now and wasted, 



IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 45 

Thou art stranded in Time ; 
For sin hath crept into 

Thy domain, once so bright, 
And the curse doth envelop 

Thy realm in its night. 
Broadcast o'er thy kingdom 

The tare hath been sown. 
And the harvest now claims 

Of the seeding ita own ; 
Hence thy scenes of enchantment 

Are but chimeras of air 
In which vapors seem lasting 

And the dying look fair ; 
For thou hast nothing enduring, 

No power that can save; 
But one end awaiting. 

And that is — the Grave, 
Whose gaunt fortress. Oblivion, 

E'en this hour doth contain 
The very props of thy throne, 

With the crown of thy reign. 
And what hardihood, then, 

To suppose or maintain 
That, with these in the dust. 

Thy realm could remain ! 
Ah, the cloud which o'erhangs thee 

Is of darkness profound, 



46 IMMORTALITV TO NATURE. 

And its blackness is felt 

To thine uttermost bound ; 
The flame which consumes thee 

Eeduceth each part, 
And naught can escape it, 

For it burns from the heart ; 
While the wave that o'erwhelms thee 

At no point may pause, 
Since it rolls universal 

In effect to the cause. 
And that cause transgression, 

A disease of the soul 
Undermining the pillars 

Which supporteth the whole ; 
And thus the disturbance 

Giving birth to the blast 
Which already hath levelled 

And will destroy thee at last. 
What then seems to linger, 

Alike of beauty or grace, — 
In the draping of form 

Or expression of face, — 
Comes alone of the loveliness 

Fleeing outward before 
The march of destruction 

Which reigns at the core. 
And e'en these but an instant 



IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 47 

In succession evade 
The all-withering grasp 

Of the pursuing shade ; 
For blight follows guilt 

Close as brightness the sun, 
Seeing one is the source 

"Whence the other doth run ; 
And hence broad as the borders 

O'er which thou hast sway- 
Are these regions of change 

And this realm of decay, 
In the which all existent, 

Both of matter and breath. 
Animate or inanimate, 

Are the subjects of Death ; 
For this is the legacy 

Bequeathed by the fall. 
And through an acknowledged Head 

Made the portion of all. 
A beauteous culprit. 

Thou art therefore condemned 
And only awaiting, 

'Mid shadows, the end ; 
And this quickly cometh, — 

Lo ! to-day is at hand, — 
For rent are thine heavens 

And distracted thy land ; 



48 IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 

All thy realm is discordant 

With contention and strife, 
For opposed are thy forces 

And at variance thy life. 
Thine every state hath some burden, 

Each condition its woes, 
Every form its antagonist, 

And each object its foes. 
Moth corrupteth thy treasures, 

Eust corrodes and alloys, 
The murrain infects 

And the weevil destroys. 
Mould defileth thy freshness 

With the musting that sours ; 
The mistings efface. 

And the canker devours. 
Frailty's stamped on thy strong ones, 

To thy fair cometh stain. 
Thy buds burst in tears, 

And thy births are of pain. 
Briers cling to thy blossoms. 

Thistles hedge thy perfume. 
Thorns are bound to thy fruitage, 

Nettles sting 'midst thy bloom. 
Serpents lurk at thy fountains, 

Yultures nest in thy trees. 
Monsters roam o'er thy land-realms 



IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 49 

And inhabit thy seas. 
Fires burn in thy mountains, 

Famines breed on thy plains, 
Pestilence stalks in thy sunlight, 

Floods descend in thy rains. 
Snows deaden thy landscapes, 

Tempests shatter thy bowers. 
Drought withers thy verdure, 

And frost kills thy flowers. 
Night closes thy days, 

Clouds follow thy morns, 
And thou ne'er hast a calm 

But 'tis succeeded by storms. 
Thy skies are ever lurid, 

All thy hopes are sin-shorn, 
Thy sweets have grown acrid. 

And thy beauties forlorn. 
Thy very throne is subverted, 

And palsied thy powers, 
Broken down are thy bulwarks 

And dismantled thy towers. 
E'en thine house is divided 

And bowed to its fall. 
For doom is the banner 

"Which floateth o'er all; 
And however colossal 

The structure may seem, 
d 5 



50 IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 

At this call of destin}" 

'Twill dissolve, as a dream, 
And go back to the elements 

Which erst gave it birth, 
Leaving nothing but vacanc}' 

Where now is the Earth ; 
Likewise, also, the fabric 

Which beareth th}^ name, 
With aught that hath parcel 

Or lot in the shame, — 
All, all, e'en as mist, 

Will be swept from the sky, 
And, into original nothingness 

Returning, shall die ; 
While on through the cycles 

That never were born, 
I ever shall shine 

In the splendors of morn, 
'Mid scenes uncreated, 

Which waste not nor pine, 
In the realms wide, immortal, 

Of the kingdom divine ; 
But where pavilioned with Godhead, 

In life's vestal spheres. 
The day's beginning I know not, 

Neither ending of years. 
And e'en if this essence 



IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 51 

la thy confines should be, 
Dissohition awaits it, 

In connection with thee. 
Albeit a marvellous quality 

God conferred with His breath, 
And though in Time 'tis extinguished, 

Still it liveth in Death ; 
But when thus transported 

From the climes where it fell. 
Everlasting effacement 

Confronts it with Hell. 
Then think not, O Nature! 

That this realm of thine 
In the veriest particular 

Is essential to mine ; 
Nor yet that this absolute 

Ending of thee 
"Will detract an iota 

From the glories in me ; 
For less e'en than a grass-blade 

On the verdure-clad sod 
Is thy kingdom, polluted. 

In the empire of God ; 
And when it hath vanished 

From this forest profound. 
The fall alone will be that 

Of a leaf to the ground. 



52 IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 

And still, in thy blindness, 

Thou didst claim all the zone 
Where the sovereign Almighty 

In His majesty's known, — 
All this star-spangled fringing 

Of immensity's strand, 
With the world-studded areas 

Of infinitude's land, — 
And didst not consider 

That these are on high, 
Whilst thy place and position 

Is the floor of the sk}^ — 
An outlying barren 

On eternity's page, 
By the councils Omniscient 

Devised for the stage 
Where, in matchless unfoldings 

Of a God-conceived plan. 
Should be solved and enacted 

The problem of Man ; 
And with this effected, — 

As since it hatli been, — 
Both arena and actors 

Depart from the scene ; 
While of these orbs surrounding, 

In their unchallenged might 
Blazing onward and upward 



IMMORTALITY TO NATURE. 53 

Through the regions of light, 
'Tis not for the terrestrial 

That more should be told, 
Save that these are the mansions, 

Celestial, of gold, 
Whose import and purpose 

God Himself will reveal 
When the archangel's trumpet 

Hath broken the seal. 
Hence all thy dominion 

Is of circumscribed girth. 
And confined to the system. 

Accursed, of Earth ; 
And 'tis thus, O Creation ! 

That 'twixt thee and me 
Not one single vestige 

Of kinship can be; 
For while I live forever, 

Thy life's but a day ; 
While I am eternal, 

Thou art but clay. 



IV. 

Claim ot Cime* 



CLAIM OF TIME. 



But, if not found in Nature, 

Sure it is I possess 
A royalty bearing 

Thy signet's impress; 
For o'er all the realms 

Of the finite that fell, 
To thy borders blest, — 

E'en the confines of Hell, — 
With a majesty boundless, 

Enduring, sublime, 
I reign God's vicegerent, 

"With the title of Time; 
The monarch Duration, 

Creator of years. 
Upholding the stars 

And directing the spheres ; 
Enthroned o'er existence, 

Sceptred with change, 
The sovereign lord 

Of the centuries' range ; 
Bestowing the seasons. 

Guiding their flight, 

57 



58 CLAIM OF TIME. 

Controlling the conditions 

Of darkness and night; 
Bringing the dawn 

Of life's morning and day, 
And hastening the eve 

Of its passing away. 
Evolving the eras 

Whence the epochs doth wend, 
And hurrying creation 

To its appointed end ; 
In the tireless roll 

Of mutations vast, 
With noiseless steps 

From ages past, 
To my chariot wheels 

With fetters fast, 
E'en to the bounds 

These region's last. 
Here, about my throne deep strewn, 

The skeletons of nations lie, 
The wreckage grand of countless years 

In dire confusion piled high ; 
Empires 'neath my feet have sprung. 

Before my sway to fall, 
And hoary kingdoms too. 

Fabrics colossal and objects small, 
With life universal 



CLAIM OF TIME. 59 

On this terrestrial ball, 
Hearkening alike 

To my relentless call, 
Do share the fate 

I hold for all. 
Ah, yes ! the heights supremo 

Of might and power, 
The magnificence and grandeur 

Of glory's hour, — 
All the pomp and pride 

Of this fitful clime, 
The wreck and ruin of ages. 

Have all been mine. 
Mine e'en was the void 

In its chaotic sleep, 
And I heard the first murmurs 

Which came from the deep ; 
Saw the universe rise 

From its watery bed, 
And felt the first throbbings 

Of life from the dead ; 
Beheld the "ruler of day," 

In his majestic birth, 
And I gazed on the first 

Of the "sunsets" of Earth; 
Stood by the Almighty Architect 

And Builder Divine, 



60 CLAIM OF TIME. 

As He fashioned all nature 

In beauties sublime ; 
Saw Him stretch out the heavens 

And color the sky, 
Then kindle the fires 

Of the glories on high ; 
Watched Him mark out the bounds 

For the oceans so vast, 
And rear up the mountains 

As though forever to last; 
Marked Him give to the Earth 

Its regal robes green, 
And beheld a glorious world formed 

Where the waters had been ; 
Saw Him temper the winds 

For the seasons to come, 
Then map out the courses 

For the planets to run ; 
Observed Him give to the land, 

The seas, and the air — 
In innumerable forms — 

The life that is there. 
Then noted the grand consummation 

Of creation's plan. 
When forth in His likeness 

Came immortal Man ; 
Heard him say, then, "'Tis finished. 



CLAIM OF TIME. t)l 

All my handiwork blest, 
And I therefore make hallowed 

This one day of rest ; 
Draw it out from the others 

Like an altar to be, 
Where all Nature may hold 

Sweet communion with me." 
Anon, then, in Paradise, 

Saw the wreck of it all ; 
Beheld the transgression. 

And witnessed the fall ; 
Heard the dire sentence 

Thundered forth from on high, 
"Man, thy sin makes thee mortal; 

Thy race now must die." 
Then saw the guilty ones fleeing 

Before the uplifted rod. 
Exiles from Eden 

And outcasts from God ; 
Next witnessed the advent 

Of the children of clay. 
As likewise the coming 

Of Death and decay; 
Observed a foul generation 

On the Earth multiply. 
Of e'en creation repented 

By the Maker on high ; 
6 



62 CLAIM OF TIME. 

Listened while this wicked people 

All the hosts of Heaven defied, 
Then in wrath's o'erwhelming waters 

Came the issue to decide. 
Eode with Noah o'er the floods, 

Through the deluge storm and rain, 
And gazed with him from Ararat 

On a world restored again ; 
Saw the " bow of promise" set 

Athwart the clearing sky, 
The " covenant's sign" that never more 

Should Earth by water die. 
Then on and on, in widening stream, 

Beheld life's heedless flow, 
TJumindful of the lessons taught 

By sires and their overthrow ; 
Watched the Babel-builders 

Presumptuous, on Shinar's plain ; 
Anon — confused, dispersed — 

Beheld their labor vain. 
Sat with Abraham in his tent, 

And listened to his sigh 
For that better, even heavenly country. 

With its God-built city on high. 
Saw Joseph, the victim of envy, 

A bondsman and prisoner, alone ; 
Next beheld him in royal apparel. 



CLAIM OF TIME. 63 

And sharing with Pharaoh the throne. 
Stood by the Nile at a season 

When a babe was hidden away, 
Whom thereafter a nation saw leading 

From a tyrant's oppression and sway ; 
Joined Israel's hegira from thraldom, — 

Through years a nomadic band, — 
By sea and waste and wilderness, 

At last to Canan's land. 
Was in all the wars of subjugation 

'Neath the Judge's rule sublime ; 
Saw the triumph, then the founding 

Of an earthly power divine; 
Hearkened to the clamor for a king. 

And beheld the anointed choice; 
Was at the temple's dedication, 

And heard the wise man's voice. 
Brought then the days of dire dissension, 

Succeeding close his glorious reign. 
Whence the tribes were rent asunder 

And the kingdom cleft in twain ; 
Marked the road thus paved to conquest 

Which the bold invader found. 
And anon beheld his legions 

Zion's bulwarks marshalled round. 
Noted then her desolation, 

Saw her day of sorrow dawn, 



64 CLAIM OF TIME. 

And beheld her children carried, 

A host enslaved, to Babylon. 
"Was through all that grinding bondage, 

Saw the harps on the willows hung. 
And, in place of song, heard wailing 

From the broken captives wrung. 
Came again in the restoration 

Which made glad Judea's plain, 
When love recrowned the " mercy-seat," 

And God returned to reign ; 
Then throughout successive epochs 

Watched idolatry prevail, 
When, the Lord their King forgetting, 

All the chosen bowed to Baal. 
Saw e'en thrice the nations chastened, 

Heard the people sigh and groan. 
Then of a Messiah coming. 

Who for sin would all atone ; 
Marked that wondrous heavenly herald 

Which before the Magi rose, 
And heard angel lips announcing 

The prophetic era's close. 
Saw the infant Jesus 

In a Bethlehem manger laid ; 
Beheld the great debt of a world's redemption 

On Calvary's summit paid 
By that fiendish act, unj)aralleled 



CLAIM OF TIME. 65 

In the memoirs of the sky, 
When a Saviour God the creature 

Whom He'd save did crucify ; 
Then, in waves of retribution. 

Came to lay Jerusalem low 
In the tomb of degradation. 

Even as she asked to go. 
" Be His blood e'en now upon us ; 

Let it on our children rest," 
Cried they one and all together, 

And the ages doth attest 
That e'en so it hath been ordered. 

And the centuries doth fulfil, 
For among the nations scattered 

Israel, outcast, wanders still. 
Yet not alone these Hebrew kingdoms 

In their fall before my swa}' : 
All earth's peoples, thrones, and sceptres 

Have been mine as well as they ; 
Pre-existent and succeeding, 

With their compeers every one. 
For behold! I brought to being, 

Saw them strong and then undone 
Furnished each successive station 

In the fitful round of power : 
Morning's promise, noon's fulfilment, 

Gathering shades, and evening hour. 
e 6* 



66 CLAIM OF TIME. 

Stood for every tongue the sponsor, 

Childhood upward bore to prime, 
Then their glorious manhood guided 

On to age and its decline. 
Led the family march to statehood, 

Weakly tribes to nations vast. 
Then adown the peaks of empire 

To the vale which holds the past ; 
Marked the tides of Egypt's grandeur 

Breaking high on famous strands, 
Then anon the waves receding, 

Illustrious wreck on storied sands. 
Beheld the " sun of Persia" rising, 

Dazzling, on a cloudless sky, 
Then, beneath a fell horizon. 

Observed it sink in blood and die. 
Saw majestic Rome wax mighty, 

Greece's fame grow bright, 
Assyria's pomp and Babylon's splendor 

Both attain surpassing height ; 
Watched this wondrous Gentile world 

Unexampled power and glory gain ; 
Then, as the rolling ages passed, 

Left it numbered with the slain. 
Thus onward o'er 

The course sublime 
Of long succeeding yeai's 

The victory hath been mine. 



CLAIM OF TIME. 67 

Mine the smiles, 

The sighs, the tears. 
The fleeting days 

With their hopes and fears ; 
The mingled sorrow and joy 

Which in life e'er dwells, — 
Its christening carols 

And its funeral knells ; 
Its hours of labor, 

Then its nights of relief; 
Its moments of gladness 

And its seasons of grief; 
Its bright summer flowers, 

Its seared autumn plants. 
Its bridal marches 

And its burial chants ; 
Its morning prattles. 

Its evening hymns, 
Its lullabies 

And its requiems. 
Mine also the ocean 

Of things finite below : 
Its billowy tides, 

With their ebb and their flow, 
All the vastness and grandeur 

Which Man hath e'er planned. 
That ever was fashioned 



68 CLAIM OF TIME. 

Or built by his hand; 
All the forms he has moulded, 

Every thread that he's si^un, 
The empires erected, 

Or the kingdoms he's won ; 
E'en the marvel himself, 

With his creations all, 
Alike and together 

Before me doth fall ; 
For beauty fades 

As I pass by, 
And greatness finds 

A place to die; 
Eust and decay 

Follow closely my flight. 
And soon with deft fingers 

Wrap brightness in night. 
Old age and hoar hair 

To the cradle I bring, 
And I bind fast together 

Life's winter and spring; 
The Nemesis of Nature, 

Fate's herald I, 
On the highway of seconds 

Whence the centuries fl}' ; 
For of these I mould moments, 

Weld the hours forming day, 



CLAIM OF TIME. 69 

And cause the months, years, 

And ages to cycle away. 
I hold now the present, 

But I own all the past, 
And on to the end of the future 

I'm hurrying fast ; 
Sounding the march 

Of generations 
Noting the rise, the growth, 

And fall of nations; 
And though present 

At creation's birth. 
Will stand beside 

The bier of Earth. 
All have, and all below 

That yet remains, — 
The land with its verdui'e, 

The mountains and plains, 
The oceans so boundless. 

The continents wide. 
The o'erhanging skies 

Where the stars doth reside; 
Constellations and systems, 

With the planets so fair. 
These realms grand of space 

And yon regions of air, — 
All, all, in their glories 



70 CLAIM OF TIME. 

And teeming with life, — 
E'en creation itself, 

With its harmonies rife, — 
Alike in their order 

Before me must bend, 
And, crushed by my burdens, 

Together shall end. 
Then, from the Grave 

Of mortal things, — 
In deathless form, 

With seraph's wings, — 
I'll soar to realms 

From whence I came. 
The heights sublime 

Of heavenly name; 
And there for aye 

With God and thee. 
Will roll the cycles 

Of eternity. 
Behold thou, then. 

Supreme my sway. 
Consider whence 

I'm called, I pray ; 
And, in this presence 

Yile of clay, 
Acknowledge me 

Thy child this day. 



V. 

ImmortalitK to Chne* 



IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 



O Time! what a hypocrite 

And deceiver thou art, 
In thus assuming position 

And essaying a part 
Which well thou dost know 

Is as foreign to thee 
As thy transitoiy existence 

In its contrast with me! 
True, thy reign is potential, 

And it springeth from God, 
Who o'er all creation — 

In its latitudes broad — 
Hath ordained thee the ruler 

Both of night and the day. 
The sign of the rising 

And the fount of decay. 
And though truly all Nature 

Thus before thee must bend, 
Just so surely thy thraldom 

At this point doth end: 

7 73 



74 IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 

For lo! 'midst the matter 

O'er which thou hast sway, 
There existeth a property 

Distinct from the clay; 
And this eternal essence — 

For such it doth be — 
Is a thing indestructible, 

And hence impervious to thee. 
"What then as an absolute 

Conquest appears, — 
In the roll of the ages 

Begotten of years, — 
After all's but the rending 

Of mortality's chain. 
Preparatory to the advent 

Of eternity's reign. 
And just here the inception 

Of a tale I'll unfold, 
Which ne'er to a creature 

Hath ever been told: 
That whilst thou, in the height 

Of thy much vaunted powers. 
Hast been running away 

With the moments and hours. 
Obliterating the present 

With thy consuming blight. 
And entombing the past 



IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 

In oblivion's night, 
I've followed thee closer 

Than ere thou hast thought, 
And have brought all thy work 

Of destruction to naught; 
For I've watched by thy river 

Since erst life had its daj^. 
And have caught all thy wrecks 

As they floated away ; 
And to the border-land yonder, — 

Far removed from the range 
Of the rusting and fading. 

Mutation and change, — 
I've borne all thy driftings 

On the crest of the wave 
Which o'erwhelmeth corruption 

In its sweep from the Grave ; 
And there, 'midst the radiance 

Of an unending day, 
I've reproduced from the dust 

And recalled from decay; 
I've healed all thy woundings 

With the stripes of thy sway, 
Eecleansed from pollution 

And refined from the clay ; 
I've new-strung thy baitings 

Made thy blind ones to see, 



76 IMMORTALITF TO TIME. 

Eeleased from thy shackles, 

And forever set free ; 
Thy cares all I've banished, 

Caused thy pinings to cease, 
And have stifled thy sighings 

With the throbbings of peace. 
I've relumed every shading 

There, regilded thy blight. 
And thy nakedness clothed . 

With the vestments of light; 
I've appeased all thine hungerings, 

Allayed all thy strife, 
And assuaged every thirsting 

With the waters of life. 
Ay, I've repaid all thy losses 

From an exhaustless store. 
And have requited the loser, 

That he wanteth no more ; 
And thus, having reclaimed 

From thy blastings and dearth, 
Mortality's bondage 

And the travail of Earth, 
I've reinvested with the excellence 

Primeval on high, 
And the imperishable coronetted 

Have restored to the sky ; 
Taken back to tlie Father-house, 



IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 77 

"Whence no more they'll roam 
From the inheritance incorruptible 

Of their ancestral home ; 
But where, e'en like unto suns now, 

In the day-dawn divine, 
Their orbit's eternity, — 

This wreckage of thine. 
And of all there's none missing, 

Not a fragment astray ; 
But every waste reconstructed 

Is eternal to-day ; 
Every bud that hath blossomed, 

Though it perished at morn, 
Every herb that did rij^en 

Ere its tendrils were torn. 
Every flower that hath withered 

Ere its fragrance was born, 
Every sheaf which the scythe 

Of the reaper hath shorn ; 
Every bloom-burst which only 

To the spring-time was lent. 
Every mellowing cluster 

Which the autumn hath spent, 
Ever}^ twig Avhich of tenderness 

The summer heat's bent. 
Every bough which the winds 

Of the winter hath rent; 
7* 



78 IMMORTALITV TO TIME. 

Every gleam of the dawning 

Which scarce saw the day, 
Every sunbeam the shadow 

Hath snatched from its play, 
Every clear sky the mistings 

Hath cast o'er with gray. 
Every glow that hath wasted 

In the gloamings away; 
Every sowing to ease 

That the harvests withheld, 
Every planting to pleasure 

That the mildews dispelled, 
Every calm which the roar 

Of the hurricane's knelled. 
Every tower which the force 

Of the tempest hath felled ; 
Every treasure the shiftings 

Hath caused to depart, 
Every tie that the rendings 

Hath sundered apart. 
Every joy which despair 

Hath transfixed with its dart, 
Every idol bereavement 

Hath stole from the heart ; 
Every fond expectation 

That's been buried in tears, 
Every hallowed affection 



IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 79 

Which recollection reveres, 
Every loved form that's vanished 

And no longer appears, 
Every hope, pride, and trust 

That hath flown with the years, — 
All, all in the realms 

Of blessedness fair. 
Full-faced in the sheen 

Of the heavenl}^ glare, 
'Midst the waftings ineffable 

Of its life-giving air, — 
All, renewed and immortalized, 

Are emparadised there, 
Where thy corroding touch 

Can ne'er come with its stain, 
Nor the burden of days 

Oppress them again ; 
But where unwithering freshness 

Crowns the great and the small. 
And perpetual 3'outh 

Is the portion of all ; 
Where the skin never furrows. 

Nor the face groweth wan, 
But the dews of the daybreak 

Endureth at dawn ; 
Where the voice never quavers, 

Nor the hair turneth gray, 



80 IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 

But the full flush of morning 

At noontide doth stay. 
Where limbs never totter, 

Nor dim grows the qjq, 
But perennial the bloom 

Of the gardens on high ; 
Where the sense never faileth, 

Nor the forces decline, 
But everlasting the spring 

Of that celestial clime; 
Where the past, all encycled, 

Awaits th}^ few years to come, 
Up to life's coronation. 

When, enthroned, they'll be one ; 
And then throughout eternity 

Trimphantly sing as they shine, 
" Behold ; once we were wrecks 

On the current of Time; 
Once we were drift 

Borne away by its tide, 
JSTow, on the hill-tops empyrean. 

For aye we reside ; 
Once we were floatage 

Tossed about o'er its main. 
But ' kings unto God,' now. 

Forever we reign, — 
Eeiixn e'en in the flesh 



IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 81 

Which ex'stwhile enslaved, 
And our crown is rejoicing 

That now we ai"c saved : 
Saved from the brightness 

In whose lustre was shade, 
Saved from the blossomings 

That bloomed but to fade, 
Saved from the foliage 

That in its glory was scattered. 
Saved from the bowers 

Only reared to be shattered ; 
Saved from the buddings 

Which gave promise for naught, 
Saved from the fruitage 

That ripened to rot. 
Saved from the treasures 

That were taken when given, 
Saved from the ties 

Only formed to be riven ; 
Saved from the friendships 

Encompassed by foes, 
Saved from the blessings 

Encumbered with woes, 
Saved from the hopes 

Interwoven with fears, 
Saved from the mirth 

Intermingled with tears ; 



/ 



82 IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 

Saved from the pleasures 

Surcharged with pain, 
Saved from the sunlight 

Succeeded by rain, 
Saved from the murkingji, 

The heat, cold, and blast. 
Which thronged the brief day 

Of the finite that's passed ; 
Saved from the illusions. 

Contradictions, and strife 
Of Earth's fated seasons 

And eras of life, 
Saved from mortality 

With its trappings of gloom, 
O'er dissolution victorious, 

And redeemed from the tomb ; 
For all the ages eternal, 

O departed Time, 
We're glorified beams 

In the rising divine. 
And, like the stars of the morning. 

In clusters sublime 
On the brow of infinitude 

Thy ransomed we shine." 
What then, O marauder 

Of frailty below, 
But a triumphal car 



IMMORTALITY TO TIME. 83 

Is thine engulfing flow? 
And what else but paeans 

The crush of thy roll, 
When these are the victims 

And this is the goal? 
Or what more the sischinffs 

And roar of thy main, 
Save the strainings and breakings 

Of the earth-mooring chain ? 
And what then the fui'ies 

Which o'er it doth fl}', 
But the fair winds that wafteth 

The bark to the sky? 
A mysterj", truly ; 

Still, its import is seen 
All thy throbbings and surges 

And billows between; 
For doth the moments not pass 

Ere the day can appear? 
And is not the flight 

Of the seasons the j'ear? 
And must not e'en these 

In turn have an end 
Ei*e the epochs colossal 

In their majesty wend ? 
And like, too, such periods 

Of duration grand, 



84 IMMORTALITF TO TIME. 

Must they all not have gone 

Ere the cycle's at hand? 
How wondrously plain, then, 

As beyond this we see 
That thy sub-astral sway 

Is but the pi-elude to me ! 
Only the rehearsal, 

In a perfunctory age, 
For the drama of life 

On Eternity's stage; 
A period of probation 

Granted by love, 
To fit and prepare 

For endless being above ; 
A season of tutelage, 

Designed but to train 
The immortal soul 

For its eternal reign. 
And since this the purpose 

Divine in thy birth. 
Alike with the mission 

Thou must perish with Earth, 
And be only remembered. 

In the future to come, 
As the course where the crown 

Of existence was won. 



VI. 



SUIT OF DEATH. 



Though I've heard thee disown 

Both Nature and Time, 
I'm still bold to speak, 

For I know I am thine. 
Since oft-time, when the portal I've opened 

Some earth-worm to bring, 
I've heard royal footsteps 

And felt the stroke of thy wing ; 
While anon from the glowing, 

As the gates back I've swung, 
Wild pseans of triumph 

Thou to me hast sung. 
But thou mayest forget. 

So I'll recall in a breath : 
I'm the great "King of Terrors," 

Though Earth calls me Death; 
But no less a sovereignty, 

By all of Heaven revered, — 
E'en the same, as in Time 

And by Hell I am feared. 

87 



SUI7' OF DEATH. 

And while sure all that's needed, 

In thy presence fair 
To establish my claim, 

Is this name M'hich I bear, 
Still, before the pretensions 

Of this craven band, 
Who, to say but the least, 

Owe their all to mine hand. 
E'en their very existence 

Deriving from me, 
Or else by my sufferance 

Permitted to be, 
And yet now so majestic 

In this borrowed renown, 
As to seek to lay hold 

Both of sceptre and crown, 
I deem it but due 

To my absolute state, 
M}^ prowess so grand 

Of Omnipotence great, 
Here, e'en at thy side. 
To publish my reign, 
And my suzerain rights 

Under God to maintain. 
Not, then, in the train 

Of a weak, servile horde: 
I've come to account 



SUIT OF DEATH. 89 

As a prince to his Lord. 
List, then, I pray thee, 

While a king deigns to say 
What glorious trophies 

Are strewn 'long his way. 
Mine is a thi'one that's builded 

On the wreck of beauty's bowers; 
A banner first that floated 

O'er Love's dismantled towers; 
A sceptre that was given 

In Life's accouchement room ; 
A sway that, all the ages long, 

Commenced 'mid Eden's bloom ; 
For Earth had yet its morning, 

And Man his natal day. 
While all of Time was yet sublime, 

In purity's array, 
A spotless sun still ruled the day 

With floods of shadeless light, 
While moon and stars, in pristine powers, 

Shed glories on the night ; 
The balmy airs of innocence 

Still lulled the world to sleep. 
For peace alone was on the throne. 

And stormless was the deep. 
Immortal sweets yet thronged the scene 

And filled the languid hour; 
8* 



90 SUIT OF DEATH. 

A heavenly breath which knew no Death 

Still claimed each fadeless flower; 
The desert yet had not been shorn 

Of the lily and the rose, 
And e'en the solitary jDlace had grace 

In plenitude's repose. 
The meekly lamb with lion bold 

Yet gambolled undismayed, 
And the suckling, then, about the den 

Of the cockatrice still plaj-ed ; 
The universe was still in tune 

To hymn its Maker's praise. 
And yet the mounts and ocean founts 

"Were redolent of lays. 
E'en the spheres were yet a-riuging 

With the angel shouts on high, 
At creation's morn, of a kingdom born 

To the empire of the sk}- ; 
E'en yet the benediction 

Was fresh on the lips Divine, — 
That Omnipotent word which infinitude heard, 

"Blest" are the things of Time; 
When lo ! the prospect changeth, 

Transgression crcepeth in. 
And God Almighty crowneth me 

The punishment for sin ; 
Then a shudder swept immensity, 



SUIT OF DEATH. 91 

And ran through Nature's range, 
While all creation stood appalled 

Before the awful change 
Wrought by my august presence 

In this its sovereign birth, 
Which wide proclaimed mortality, 

And tolled the doom of Earth ; 
For destruction then, in fiendish might, 

Spread blight o'er all the plain. 
And in pei*fection's royal seat 

Decay commenced to reign. 
The sun took on a sickly glare. 

The moon's light then did pale. 
And all the wonders of the skies 

Were hidden by the veil 
Which cast o'er all the world so fair 

A dark and venomed shade, 
Which wrapt around in moral gloom 

Each couch for virtue made. 
Then Time, of brightness all despoiled. 

Embarked on a dismal sway, 
With nothing left but moments drear 

To drag o'er a waste away; 
The elements broke their moorings, then, 

To the haven's calm on high. 
And the lightnings first began to flash. 

With thunders from the skj'. 



92 ^UIT OF DEATH. 

E'en the gentle breeze ferocious grew, 

While the zephyrs of the leas, 
Aroused to fury, swept the strand 

And lashed to foam the seas; 
Then the flowers began to wither, 

And the leaves commenced to fall, 
For autumn came to shroud the spring, 

With winter for its pall. 
Base passion, then, by guilt released 

From dungeons foul of Hell, 
The vanguard of a host depraved. 

Sought out the heart to dwell ; 
Malice then inflamed the breast, 

And vengeance fired the brain, 
While these devouring monsters gave 

To land, the air, and main. 
The adder then began to sting. 

The wild beast sought his prey, 
And e'en the hand of sovereign prince 

In wrath was raised to slay ; 
Then I appeared in Paradise, 

And, ere the morn had fled, 
Its glens and groves primeval 

Were sepulchres of the dead. 
And thus commenced that conquest grand 

Which, like a mighty wave. 
Hath ever since through Nature's realms 



SUIT OF DEATH. 93 

Swept matter to the Grave. 
But come, behold my triumphs, 

See the wonders of my reign, 
With the crowns of glory wrested 

From the brow of being slain ; 
View life's gorgeous, glittering drama, 

In splendors set for eveiy age, 
And then, behold the desolation 

"Which I've wrought upon the stage; 
Note humanitj^'s wondrous pageant, 

All the line of centuries down. 
And then look out upon the remnant 

Which I've left of Earth's renown ; 
Gaze upon a king's triumphal journey 

From Eden to the present day 
And tell me, Where's the vastness, kingdoms now 

Which erst resplendent lined the way ? 
Where is the Mede and Persian, 

And that of Assyria, too ; 
The Chaldean grand and Saracen, 

With the God-wrought of the Jew? 
Where now's the Caesar's empire, 

Which dominated the world awhile, 
As well the Pharaoh dynasty 

That flourished on the Nile? 
And where, too, now is Carthage, 

With Tyre and Ascalon, 



94 SUIT OF DEATH. 

Busy Thebes, imperial Eome, 

Nineveh, and Babj-lon ? 
"Where, also, to-day is Jerusalem, 

By the presence blest Divine, 
And where that gorgeous Ephesus 

That held Diana's shrine? 
Where, also, is gentle Athens, 

The home of the cultured brave, 
Damascus in its Syrian garden, 

And Troy by the ocean's wave? 
Where, too, are the lesser splendors 

Which thronged these marvels round. 
And where to-day can Perga 

And Philippi be found? 
And where, too, now are the nations 

O'er which all these held swa}-. 
And where the pomp and prowess 
That crowned their glorjj-'s day? 
Where alone are the mighty epochs 

Which possessed these wonders vast. 
And where e'en the JSTecropolis 

Of this stupendous past? 
Once it was, aye, and dazzled 

With a brilliancy sublime 
That shone forth as the noonday 
From the zenith of its prime; 
For it filled the Earth with wisdom, 



SUIT OF DEATH. 95 

E'en called the stars by name, 
And drew a world entranced around 

The pinnacle of its fame. 
It made a captive of the seas, 
It chained the fleeting hour, 
And held creation in vassalage 

In the acme of its power; 
And yet 't has vanished like a dream 

This matchless long ago. 
And scarce a vestige doth remain 

To tell of its overthrow. 
Gone, all gone, and forever, 

With the times that gave it birth, 
And e'en its very sepulchre 

Is now unknown to Earth ; 
But sure, sure, 'tis no enigma, 

This ruin all to thee. 
Since even Man's historian 

Accordeth it to me. 
Ah, yes, crowns crumble in my grasp; 

Before my all-powerful sway 
Empire sinks within a night. 

And kingdoms perish in a day; 
The antediluvian world 

I destroyed at a stroke. 
And a breath from my nostrils 
The Assyrian power broke. 



96 SUIT OF DEATH. 

I swept 'long the Jordan 

In a fiery rain, 
And in a moment wiped out 

Both the prides of its plain ; 
Herculaneum and Pompeii 

I entombed on the lea, 
And Tyrus I wrecked 

With the tides of the sea. 
To Alexandria I came, 

In the gorgon of war, 
The same unto Corinth, 

And likewise to Zoar. 
The world's haughty mistress 

I smote with decay, 
And with dry-rot I wasted 

Her compeers away. 
All the grandeur of Antioch 

I've left in a mound. 
And Baalbec colossal 

I razed to the ground. 
To say naught of the pi'odigics 

I've subverted in wrath, 
Nor yet e'en of Chorazin, 

Csesarea, and Gath ; 
While to all the rest, mighty, 

I've given an end so profound 
That not a single trace of them, 



SUIT OF DEATH. 97 

Now or hereafter, will ever be found ; 
E'en their age, with its chronicles 

Of the events of old, 
Their power with its pillars, 

I've consigned to the mould ; 
AH that erst was created 

My hand hath undone, 
And yet e'en the system 

I'm called to o'ercome ; 
And hence from thy presence. 

With my banner unfurled, 
I go forth to the conquest 

Of what is left of the world, — 
Go forth as aforetime, 

Girt about with the sword, 
A destroj'er decreed 

And ordained of the Lord. 
But here's my commission ; see, it reads, 

That come to all I must. 
That back to Earth all earth must go, 

While dust returns to dust ; 
That from these teeming fields 

Of being so green, — 
Which the husbandman sowed. 

But where an enemy's been, — 
Alike with fruitfulness crowned 

And barren spots seamed, 
9 9 



98 SUIT OF DEATH. 

Both the wheat and the tares 

Must all be gleaned ; 
Then, the summer being ended 

And the harvest-time i:)a8sed, 
The floors will be garnished 

And the sheaves shall be thrashed, 
The grain taken home 

To life's garners on high. 
But all refuse, with the stubble. 

Must eternally die. 
This I received in Eden, 

Just at the time of the fall, — 
Eeceived it with God-given instructions 

To execute it on all; 
And since then, as thou knowest. 

Ever down through the years 
I've swathed creation in mourning 

And drenched the world with tears ; 
Eound every fireside 

I've scattered my dearth, 
And have successively plundered 

The households of Earth, 
From Adams to Abrahams, 

Then on to Sauls, 
Of the Hebrews and Komans, 

The Greeks and the Gauls, — 
Every family and people. 



SUIT OF DEATH. 99 

Of whatever name, 
That ever had being, 

The record's the same : 
They came as the flowing. 

They went out like the tide, 
They were and they are not, 

They lived and they died. 
This is the simple epitaph 

Of all existence o'er, 
And the same will yet be written 

Of that unborn before. 
E'en of the bustling millions 

That in the present dwell, 
Who now contend upon the fields 

Where sires and fathers fell ; 
Who sojourn 'midst their ruins, 

And in their footsteps tread 
The narrow sj)an 'twixt coming life 

And the departed dead ; 
For like the flowerets, so are these : 

They bloom and fade away 
That others, after, may succeed 

And share the same decaj- ; 
While all of mortal kind to be 

In manner like shall fall, 
For verily my dominion's scope 

Includes creation all. 



100 SUIT OF DEATH. 

Ah, yes! wind, flood, and flame, 

Pestilence, famine, and war, 
With every force e'en of Nature, 

My agencies are ; 
And with these I know nothing 

Of either places or Time, 
For mine are all seasons, 

And I own every clime. 
And 'tis the same with life's stations, 

Whether high-born or low, 
For alike to the palace 

And the hovel I go, 
Seeking together the rich and the poor, 

Youth's bloom and the gray, 
Manhood's full prime 

And the babe of a day; 
Bowing the crowned head. 

The priest, sage, and brave. 
Alike with the peasant. 

Serf, beggar, and slave ; 
For to all classes and conditions 

That exist 'neath the sun, 
Inevitably and resistlessly 

My warrant doth run. 
E'en at being's first dawning, 

Behold, I am near, 
And on all of its by-ways 



SUIT OF DEATH. 101 

I doth ever appear: 
To the sleeper at night 

And the strong in the day, 
To the business man at his desk 

And the child at its play, 
To the rough-handed laborer. 

Toiling hard for his bread. 
And fortune's heir, pampered, 

Who without exertion is fed ; 
To the youth in life's morn, 

With no world-cares as yet, 
And the old wrinkled pilgrim 

Whose earth-sun's most set, 
To the light-hearted husbandman, 

Hopefully tilling the soil. 
And the captive in thraldom. 

Broken down by his toil ; 
To the captains of armies 

And the heroes of war. 
To all that are saved 

From the battle-field's gore. 
To the meek and the mighty. 

The small and the great. 
To the walks of the lowly 

And the princely estate ; 
To the thronged city's street 

And the crowd every one, 
9* 



102 ^UIT OF DEATH. 

Like the blight to the verdure, 

In some way I come : 
Perhaps in the sunshine, 

But oft in the rain, 
With scarcely a ripple, 

Or in tempests of pain ; 
Perchance in the spring-time, 

Full as like with the snows. 
When the summer is green. 

Or the autumn wind blows. 
Maybe in the vapors of morn, 

Or the cool evening air ; 
I've lurked even in flowers. 

And been found in a hair ; 
But ever, j^ea, always, 

Like the storm in its might, 
As the flash of the lightning. 

Or a thief in the night. 
Besides, I've ten thousand forms 

Which I assume every day. 
And each one of these 

Bears its victims away; 
But however familiar 

I thus grow to be, 
Mankind hath no terror 

That compareth to me. 
And hence whei'ever I find them, 



SUIT OF DEATH. 103 

Or howe'er I come, 
Dismay dire precedeth, 

While despair doth outrun ; 
For in anguish they greet me, 

And pleadingly sigh, 
Cling wildly to life, 

And panic-stricken they die. 
E'en my very existence 

Inspireth with fear, 
For none knoweth to whom 

Or when next I'll appear; 
And in all pursuits of the finite, 

On life's every way, 
These impenetrable shadows 

Eender lurid the day. 
Paleness steals to the cheek 

Of the beauty so gay, 
At a single allusion 

To the coming decay ; 
Clouds darken the brow 

Of e'en the mighty and brave, 
At the bare recollection 

They're en route to the Grave, 
Tremors seize on the noble, 

In his high estate proud, 
Before one obtruding thought 

Of a coffin and shroud ; 



104 SUIT OF DEATH. 

While ghastly forebodings 

Fill the heart of the king, 
Born of an instant's conjecture 

Of what the morrow may bring. 
The waltz becomes listless, 

Alarm fills the hall, 
For a whisper goes round 

That I may dance at the ball ; 
A shade presides at the banquet, 

Its mirth all hath ceased, 
For anon comes the dread 

Lest I join in the feast. 
In every scene of enjoyment 

There's a trill in the song, 
Based on a vague apprehension. 

Perchance, that I'm in the throng; 
At all festive gatherings 

Distrust mingles with glee. 
And all account the uncertainty 

Attaching to me; 
While on every occasion 

Of might or beauty's array, 
'Tis the prayer of the multitude 

That I stay away ; 
'Tis the ever-present solicitude 

Alike of human homes all. 
Lest in the train of the social 



SUIT OF DEATH. 105 

I should ventui'e to call ; 
And a household petition 

From castle to hut, 
That 'gainst me, the destroyer, 

Long the door ma}' be shut. 
E'en to workshop and office 

These terrors intrude, 
And their every plan and design 

Doth the phantom include. 
" I give pledge," saith the mortal, 

"That thus it shall be, 
Provided naught interfere : 

That the morning we see." 
" This and that I'll accomplish," 

Another doth say, 
"In case I'm vouchsafed 

The requisite day." 
" To go there I'm determined," 

Still another makes known, 
"If, however, perchance, 

The season's my own." 
But in all — through all — 

A proviso must be; 
For thus alone Time is reckoned 

On Man's chances with me. 
And well taken these fears. 

Good grounds for this dread, 



106 SUIT OF DEATH. 

For oft one moment's planning 

Is the next moment's dead ; 
Oft I follow the schemer, 

Strong in hope, to his bed, 
But ere the morn of the promise 

His life-day hath fled. 
At the scene of construction 

Oft the builder I meet, 
And the day is not given 

In which he sees it complete ; 
While ere the hour of departure 

For the tourist hath come, 
I pay a chance visit, 

And lo ! his journeys are done. 
And not a second's ticked off 

On the dial of Time, 
But tenfold I record 

These incursions of mine; 
Not a single sun riseth 

From the gates of the morn, 
But sees a myriad new graves 

Ere another is born ; 
While, as the years roll away 

And each epoch hath flown, 
My conquests grow numberless. 

Then, as generations they're known ; 
And soon, soon the moment cometh 



SUIT OF DEATH. 107 

When the last of life to be — 
Like this, its hapless ancestry — 

Will quit these scenes through me. 
But not alone my appearing, 

Whence all of Earth disappears ; 
'Tis what lies beyond 

That the mortal most fears ; 
'Tis the future uncertain, 

Of which I am the door, 
That all through his journey 

Is the spectre before ; 
'Tis the dark realm I open. 

When the world fades from sight, 
With its ghastly surroundings, — 

That's the ghoul of his night : 
That hereafter mysterious 

Into which I'm the way, 
With its untried realities, — 

That's the ghost of his day ; 
A veritable eternity, 

Of which Time hath no chart, 
That only my coming 

Will reveal to his heart. 
Eternal cycles of being 

His ever}^ sense must endure, 
But in what state or condition 

Nothing here to assure; 



108 SUIT OF DEATH. 

That dread region infinite 

"Which no ray relieves, 
And hence peopled with horrors 

As his fancy conceives. 
Ah ! this is the frenzy 

Of ominous roll, 
And thus I lead captive 

Both body and soul; 
But this all I heed not, 

My work must be done. 
And that shall go on 

Till it blots out the sun ; 
Then o'er creation triumphant, 

In my majesty fell, 
I'll reign on forever, 

Death eternal, in Hell. 
Hence with this glorious past 

And grand future to come, 
If thou e'er hadst a kinsman, 

I am that one; 
For my sway in all things 

Is coequal with thine 
O'er the two grand divisions 

Of the kingdom divine: 
One of the glowing, 

The other of blight ; 
Thine of the rising. 



SUIT OF DEATH. 109 

Mine of the night ; 
The heights of the heavens 

In their glory of thee, 
With the depths of despair 

In subjection to me. 
In regal alliance 

I'm therefore thy peer, — 
Thou the crown of God's love, 

I His sceptre of fear. 



10 



VII. 

Jmmortalitg to Mmtb. 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 



O Death, of life 

Supreme the shade, 
The penalty for sin 

By Godhead laid 
On existence all 

Of finite birth. 
That, transgressing, fell 

With Man on Earth, 
And verily, as such. 

Divinely crowned 
The autocrat of being 

"Within this bound, 
Whose sovereign power 

E'en Time defies, 
And at whose feet 

All Nature dies, 
'Tis not in me 

To rob thy state, 
Of resistless sway 

And trophies great, 

10* 113 



114 IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 

But simply 'midst 

Thy reign so fell, 
The hidden glories 

Of thy rule to tell ; 
For a seraph e'en 

Thy boast to hear 
Of an absolutism 

Maintained through fear, 
Would sure conclude 

Some hellish art 
Had formed thee 

For a baser part, 
And bid thee roam 

Creation broad, 
The destructive engine 

Of a monster God, 
Whose highest aim 

And ehiefest joy 
Was to create 

And then destroy; 
When in very truth 

Thy force malign 
Is mercy manifest 

In love Divine, 
Which, moved with compassion 

At the fall, 
Decreed through thee 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 115 

Complete recall; 
And even thus 

Hath loosed guilt's chain, 
And brought the famished 

To the fount again, 
Of whose healing waters. 

Welling high. 
They who drink 

Shall never die, 
But, yielding up 

All mortal strife. 
In thy embrace 

Escape to life, 
And in the freedom 

Blest I give. 
On the altitudes eternal 

Begin to live ; 
For that below. 

Existence called. 
In fleshen cells 

Securely walled, 
Tugging ever 

At the chain, 
Beating 'gainst 

The bars in vain, 
Sighing e'er 

At prison doors, 



116 IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 

Prostrate prone 

On dungeon floors, 
Bleeding, bruised 

By slaver's stroke, 
And crushed beneath 

The bondsman's yoke, 
Doth only bear 

The princely name; 
'Tis but the spark, 

I am the flame. 
And yet the heritage 

Of the skies 
Bids this ember 

To its birthright rise; 
But in the call 

It must be free 
To answer God 

And destiny. 
And hence the rescript 

And decree 
Which forms and vests 

The work in thee. 
Not, then, O Death, 

With tyrant's frown. 
Oppressor's sceptre, 

Or the despot's crown ; 
Not with the spoiler's 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 117 

Torch and spear, 
Nor conquest's fetters 

Forged of fear, 
Time's liapless victim 

Fast to bind 
Eternity's chariot, 

A slave behind ; 
Not with destruction's 

Wasting might, 
Canopied round 

With clouds of night; 
Nor yet with trumpet 

Blast of doom, 
In spectral train 

Of mortal gloom, 
With fury's fangs 

And horror's maw, 
To full avenge 

The broken law; 
But as a courier 

Of the skies, 
Who with a blessed 

Message flies 
Forth the imperial 

Court above. 
On the wings 

Of rescuing love, 



118 IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 

In the sovereign 

Parent's name, 
To the child 

Immured in shame, 
From the whirlwind 

And the wave 
The heir immortal, 

Eedeemed, to save. 
O harbinger royal 

Of the soul's release. 
Thy kingly mission 

To the Earth is peace, — 
Perfect, satisfying. 

Abiding peace, — 
"Within whose fold 

All conflicts cease. 
Such peace these realms 

Hath never known 
E'en 'midst the bowers 

Of Eden flown; 
That peace which yieldeth 

Costlier things 
Than e'er the train 

Of conqueror brings. 
Life peace, which breathes 

Of an existence hence, 
And speaks of Heaven 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH 119 

And recompense; 
Tells of crowns 

For crosses, 
Of infinite gains 

For finite losses ; 
To the disconsolate 

Murmurs, "Blest," 
Gently whispers 

To the weary, " Eest ;" 
To the wanderer says, 

" No more alone ; 
For behold, I call thee, 

Exile, home." 
And is liberty, then. 

So great a bond 
That e'en the slave 

Doth dread her wand? 
Is gloom so precious 

To the sight, 
The blind, afi'righted, 

Flee the light? 
Nor yet of pain : 

Is it so sweet 
The tortured fear 

Eelief to meet ? 
Or hath trial sore 

So much to charm 



120 IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 

That release but comes 

In dire alarm? 
Or can it be 

The banished groan 
When summoned back 

To land and throne ? 
Ah, Death! a mystery dark 

May thee surround, 
But "Terrors' King" 

Must yet be crowned, 
And nothing but 

A trammelled mind, 
In its dismal 

Earth-house blind, 
Where the mills 

Of fancy grind, 
And its spectres 

Lodgement find, 
Could e'er have builded 

Thus for Time 
So weird a shape 

From the sublime. 
But since, in fact. 

This error's sown, 
It is but meet 

The truth be known ; 
Hence, of this exit 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 121 

From below, 
Whence life's upward 

Currents flow, — 
Whether in zephyr 

Whispers low, 
In the howling 

Tempest's blow. 
Sudden blast 

Or waftings slow, — 
'Tis a royal way 

These earthlings go. 
Ay, the only bliss 

Beneath the sky — 
If Man but knew — 

Is that to die, 
And did he see 

As I could tell, 
Each moment here 

Would be a hell ; 
But truths like these 

Are under seal, 
And this the utmost 

I may reveal. 
Suffice it, then, 

This statement plain: 
For mortal things 

" To die is gain." 
11 



122 IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 

All Nature this 

Doth understand, 
And, with a gorgeous, 

Lavish hand, 
Throughout all climes, 

The air, and sea, 
E'en like a bride, 

Adorns for thee. 
The sun reserves 

His loveliest ray 
To gild the bier 

Of passing day. 
The moon her fulness 

Doth attain. 
But as a shroud 

In which to wane, 
And, like the planets. 

So they burn. 
Ever brightest 

At their orbits' turn ; 
The spring puts on 

Its best attire 
To grace the hour 

It will expire ; 
While summer fair 

Her grandest sheen 
In joj'- assumes 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 121 

To be thy queen ; 
And so tl\e autumn, 

Winter, year, 
Fleeting age 

And rolling sphere, — 
All worn and wearied 

By the past, — 
Eesplendent greet 

Their king at last. 
And if to these 

Of Earth supine. 
Destined to run 

Their course in Time, 
A hand which decks 

With glory o'er, 
What tongue may tell 

For Man the store? 
For lo ! to him 

Thy presence brings. 
Though all unseen, 

A spirit's wings, 
With which he flees 

The jailer clay, 
As well the realms 

Of carnal sway. 
Mounts expectant 

To the skies, 



124 IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 

Where the peaks 

Of prospect rise, 
And, from creation's 

Topmost crest, 
Surveys his Heaven 

And soars to rest. 
And 'tis thus, O Death, 

The shades that spring 
From 'neath thy feet 

Have lost their sting; 
Thy prowess, however, 

No one may deny, 
Though only a servant 

Traversing the sky; 
And to life's latest hour, 

In the Earth-land below, 
Awe mingled with glory 

About thee shall glow. 
But talk not of kinship ; 

That ne'er could be, 
Since between us there lies 

An impassable sea, — 
A vast yawning chasm 

Full as deep and as wide 
As that which perdition 

And the heavens divide. 
And likewise of the future 



IMMORTALITY TO DEATH. 125 

Spare also thy breath, 
For even in Hell 

There is nothing of Death ; 
No, no, alone for the Earth 

Is the work thus begun 
Which e'en Time here shall see 

All completed and done. 
And then for eternity 

Thy race will be run. 
Poor king ! after all thy conquests 

Thou must perish alone, 
Without any friends 

And deprived of thy throne, 
But not until 

The last heir's home. 



11* 



VIII. 

ffltclaration of tit 6rabe. 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 



I DWELL by life's river, 

My castle's washed by its wave, 
And all its tides rest in me, 

For I am the Grave ; 
With the advent of sin 

I came to the throne, 
And since then I've reigned 

O'er creation alone; 
Eelentless Death, here so regal, 

And despotic Time, worn, 
Have both been my vassals 

Since first I was born ; 
For I am their sovereign. 

Their liege lord and king. 
And to me every instant 

Some tribute they bring. 
And even if these 

Have no portion in thee, 
Surely some of thy glory 

Belongeth to me ; 
i 129 



130 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

For the wide world is my realm, 

All its forms are my prey, 
And I hold all my prisoners 

Forever and aye, — 
Hold them in chains 

Which no earth-power can break, 
In fortresses impregnable 

Which no storming can take; 
Hold them so tightly. 

Securely, and well, 
That none ever escape 

Of the bondage to tell ; 
But there in the silence. 

With mould and decay, 
I sweep every vestige 

Of the earthy away. 
Leaving naught of the objects 

Once of love, pride, and trust. 
But a fond recollection 

And a handful of dust ; 
A brief record of life, 

A rounded-off mound, 
A slab of white marble marking 

A home in the ground. 
Which tells of one born, 

And the date there beside, 
Next the length of the journey, 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 131 

Then the time that he died ; 
And these I've built everywhere 

By mount, wood, and sea, 
And you'll find them wherever 

Life's wont to be : 
Find them deep in the forest, 

And in the jungle as well, 
Far down in the tropics 

And where the Esquimaux dwell ; 
Find them in the midst of the hamlet, 

Where the church-j^ard they crown. 
Great and grand near the city 

And on the hill by the town ; 
Find them in bronze 

Memorials for the ages to come. 
And fashioned of sea-weed 

Where its undertows run ; 
Find them wherever 

There has e'er been a birth, 
And where life e'er has dwelt 

At any time on the Earth : 
Oft-times unpretentious. 

Neglected, alone, 
With nothing to mark, 

And e'en the dweller unknown ; 
Or perchance locked in the fastness 

Of the waste or the deep. 



132 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Of which only Omniscience 

The record doth keep; 
Then again, massive, imposing, 

Lofty, and grand, 
Towering in splendor 

O'er the great of the land, 
"With symbols emblazoned 

And sculpturings crowned, 
"Veritable palaces 

For ashes renowned. 
But though a pompous exterior, 

"Wealth, or might adds to fame, 
Alike for sovereign and serf 

The bed is the same ; 
For I've no state and no stations, 

No rank, titles, or caste : 
These all are of life. 

And, like life here, are past. 
"Whether, then, in mausoleum gorgeous 

Or lying bleached on the sand. 
The sleep's just as sweet 

And the rest is as grand ; 
But chance times they are larger, — 

Built for an Anak or Saul, — 
Though among the vast number 

You'll find those that are small, 
"Wee, tiny things, but 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 133 

High prized as the rest, 
For the}^ hold buds that have faded 

From maternity's breast, — 
Hold many an idol 

From life's altars torn, 
For whom, in sackcloth and ashes, 

Stricken worshippers mourn ; 
Hold many a darling 

Eound whom love's chains yet twine. 
And for whom, in their absence. 

Hearts sicken and pine ; 
Hold many a jewel 

Too costly to stay. 
So in these vaults of safety 

I have laid them away : 
Away from life's ills, 

Its pitfalls and snares, 
Away from its heartaches. 

Its sorrows and cares. 
Away from its sighings. 

Away from its tears. 
Away from the burdens 

That increase with its years; 
Away from the frosts 

That blighteth its flowers. 
Away from the dangers 

That lurk in its bowers, 
12 



134 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Away from the poisons 

That infesteth its air, 
Away from the canker 

That corrupteth its fair ; 
Away from the tempests, 

Away from the storms 
That beat on its noondays 

And obscureth its morns, 
Away from the hurricanes 

That sweep its seas o'er, 
Away from the furies 

That lasheth its shore; 
Away from the labors 

And heats of its days, 
Away fi'om the monsters 

That prey 'long its ways, 
Away from its shades. 

Its shadows, and blight. 
Preserved from its evening 

And saved from its night. 
Others, however, hold 

The great of the Earth, — 
The learned, famed, and mighty, 

With the children of worth ; 
Hold apostles and prophets, 

With the patriarchs, too, 
The kings and the judges 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 135 

And chief priests of the Jew. 
Hold Methuselah the aged, 

And David's son wise, 
While in this same Pantheon 

Strong Samson lies ; 
Hold the Csesars and Pharaohs, 

And the Herods as well, 
While here also both Darius 

And Belshazzar now dwell. 
Hold the cohorts and legions 

Of the armies of old, 
Centurions, chief captains. 

And warriors bold ; 
Hold the head that designed 

And the hands that have built, 
The sweet faces of innocence 

And the dark forms of guilt; 
Hold the tongue of the sage 

And the heart of the brave, 
The barretted brow of the priest 

And shackled limbs of the slave j 
Hold all duration o'er. 

With its greatness and glory. 
Its matchless traditions 

And unchronicled story ; 
Hold its years and its ages. 

Its winters and springs. 



136 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Its tribes with their chieftains, 

Its nations and kings ; 
Hold the pride of their rule 

And the pomp of their reigns, 
The fabulous life 

Of its cities and plains ; 
Hold its days and its nights, 

With their God-given signs, 
The miraculous works 

Of its wonderful times ; 
Hold its moats and its mansions, 

Its temples and towers. 
Its marts and metropolises. 

Its piles and its powers ; 
Hold its loves and its longings, 

Its funnings and fears, 
Its gush and its genius, 

Its transports and tears ; 
Hold its vices and virtues. 

Its lore and its lust, 
Its majesty and misery. 

Its dazzle and dust; 
Hold all that's existed 

Since creation's morn, 
And soon I'll build others 

For that yet unborn : 
Build them for the future. 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 137 

As I've done for the past, 
For I hold the first Man, 

And will soon house the last 
In these quaint, quiet villas 

Where no life-din is heard, 
"Where the dwellers by none 

Of Earth's commotions are stirred ; 
But where the warrior reposeth, 

With his battles all o'er, 
And the foeman's dismayed 

By the carnage no moi'e ; 
Where the sailor sleeps on, 

All unmindful the blast, 
And the mariner's dream 

Of the shipwreck is past ; 
Where the care-burdened pilgrim 

Forgetteth his load. 
And no clarion awakens 

To the sighs of the road ; 
Where the oppressed and tormented 

Are exempt from all woes, 
And security's unbroken 

By the appearance of foes ; 
Where the fearful and anxious 

A great refuge hath found 
In peace as majestic 

As the slumbers profound ; 
12* 



138 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Where the anguish-racked braia 

With lasting silence is filled, 
And the trouble-tossed heart 

Forever is stilled ; 
Where no wail of sorrow 

Breaks in on the sleep, 
And eyes never open, 

Heavy laden, to weep; 
Where the bosom ne'er heaves, 

And the tongue lisps no sigh. 
Where weary hands, folded 

'Cross triumphant breasts, lie ; 
Where the brow hath no cloudings 

And the temples no throb. 
And ne'er tired gi*ow the feet 

Which of ashes are shod; 
Where all earth-blows are ended 

And all flesh-aches hath fled, 
Where a calm, all unrufiied. 

O'er the sleepers is spread ; 
Where the cold never enters 

And heats never come. 
Where storms never beat 

And the tides never run ; 
Where the days are unrecorded 

And the years have no page, 
And no note e'er is taken 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 139 

Of fleeting epoch or age ; 
But where life, denied entrance, 

Is heax-d of no more, 
And all its ills and vicissitudes 

2!^e'er pause, passing o'er 
These vast hamlets lowly. 

Fashioned of clay. 
Hidden far down 

'Neath the grasses away ; 
"Where the lily first blooms 

And the crocus appears, 
And the evere-reen's lullino;s 

Eesound through the years ; 
Where the willow-tree weeps 

And the cypress doth moan, 
And the ivy wild clambers 

Where the lichen hath grown ; 
Where the sunlight falls softly 

And the winds gently blow. 
And the clouds e'en are vergers 

For the service below ; 
Where the spring-time casts blossoms 

And the autumn strews leaves, 
And winter its mantle 

Of purity weaves ; 
Where the dawn's rays and the settings 

Doth ever converge, 



140 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Where the morn chanteth requiems 

And the night wails a dirge ; 
"Where stars are the guardians 

Of disquietude's rest, 
And Earth folds her children 

In peace to her breast ; 
Where a hush seizes Nature, 

And awe fills the air, 
As mortality reads 

Its epitaph there 
On these chapel doors numberless. 

Every parish plot round. 
Where no dissension in creed 

Or doctrine is found, 
But where the bigot hath ceased 

Of his dogmas to tell. 
And both the faithful and heretic 

In harmony dwell ; 
Where no altar awaits 

And no church-bell is rung, 
Where no anthem resounds 

And no censer is swung, 
Where no vespers ascend 

And no matins are said, 
Where no penitent kneels 

And no penance is paid ; 
But where the mitre and crosier 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 141 

Are eaten of rust, 
And the flock, with its bishop, 

Hath crumbled to dust 
In these mighty towns, humble. 

Where no dwellers are seen, 
Where naught save the cappings 

Appear 'bove the green ; 
Where the houses are hillocks 

Constructed of clods, 
Windowless habitations 

Eoofed o'er with sods, 
Where the tenants are myriad. 

Yet untrodden the floors. 
And knobs inside avail not 

On the outswinging doors ; 
Where neighbors and kinsfolk 

Each other ne'er greet. 
And no bustle nor babble 

Is heard from the street ; 
But where business hath closed 

Its ledger for aye, 
And the trance of the restings 

Lure the child from its play ; 
Where the earthy to Earth 

Hath taken its flight. 
And life-scenes are lost 

In oblivion's night; 



142 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Where all of its passions, 

Its emotions, and aims 
Doth find in the mould 

Blest relief from its claims ; 
Where anger resides not 

And resentment's unknown, 
Where none ever forgive 

And naught can atone ; 
Where grief is unavailing 

And regrets all are vain. 
Where opportunity, lost, 

No remorse can regain ; 
Where slander is speechless 

And scandal's subdued. 
Where alone the virtues departed 

Are recalled and reviewed ; 
Where faults are forgotten 

And shortcomings concealed, 
Where only the past 

In its beaut}- 's revealed ; 
Where defects all are hidden, 

With dishonor and shame. 
Where distortion is swept 

From deformity's frame ; 
Where all loss and attainment, 

With their pathos and thrill, 
In tenements ashen 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 143 

Are pulseless and still ; 
Where no poverty pincheth 

And no beggar appeals, 
Where no charity giveth 

And no villany steals ; 
Where wealth hath no station 

And pomp hath no place, 
Where position and preferment 

Exciteth no race ; 
Where fortune's no favorites 

And beauty no crown. 
Where fashion's no votaries 

And pride hath no frown ; 
Where the hero's no worshippers 

And the conqueror no train, 
Where the plaudits of empire 

Will ne'er rouse them again ; 
Whei'e oppression's no bondsmen 

And tyranny's flown, 
Where might wields no sceptre 

And the king hath no throne ; 
Where naught can distinguish 

'Twixt the pure and defiled, 
The prince and the pauper, 

The wreathed and reviled. 
But where all grades and orders 

Alike of nothingness fare, 



144 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

And on the same mighty level 

Its equalities share 
In these grand cities, lifeless, 

Where resideth in peace 
The countless populations 

That ever increase ; 
For though through Death, ghastly, 

Life doth e'er pass away, 
Yet in these lodgings narrow 

All its forms must decay ; 
Every shape of the earthy 

Earth claims for its own. 
And dust hath its dwelling 

In these mansions of stone. 
But more : I'm the shrine of the living 

As well the home of the dead. 
The mount of lamentation 

Whence a world's gloom is shed, 
A dark vale of privation 

Where Earth's great trials grow, 
And its rivers of agony 

Are unstayed in their flow ; 
A wilderness of desolation, 

Life's ways lined and crossed. 
Where all of its forms 

Disappear and ai^e lost, 
And yet the place of all others 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 145 

Most dear to its heart, 
For it marketh the spot 

Where its fellowships part, 
Marketh the spot 

Where its hopes blighted lie, 
Where all its possessions 

Are borne as they die ; 
Where its sweet buds and blossoms 

In the morning doth fade, 
And its full ripened sheaves 

Are at even-tide laid ; 
Where the light of its firesides 

Is extinguished in night, 
And the prides of its households 

Are buried from sight ; 
Where its greatness descends 

And its splendors are lowered, 
Where its jewels are housed 

And its treasures are stored ; 



Where 



ts brightness is ijai'nered 



And its joys all are moored, 
Where its beauties are captive 

And its idols immured ; 
Where its eyes ever turn 

And its footsteps doth tend, 
Where its avenues lead 

And its journeys all end ; 
k 13 



146 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Hallowed mounds of affection 

Where, unrestrained through the years, 
All of Man's generations 

Intermingle their tears ; 
Where the crown e'en and coronet 

Their wanderings keep, 
And the gay and the frivolous 

Aside turn to weep ; 
Where the heart of the wayward 

In contrition doth melt, 
And throughout enmity's bosom 

Compunction is felt ; 
Where all rancor and bitterness 

From the spirit takes flight, 
And estrangement, abashed, 

Doth vanish from sight ; 
Where nothing save tenderness 

E'er lifteth its head. 
And regard for the living 

Is the call from the dead ; 
Matchless stations of friendship, 

Meditation's blest bowers, 
Where sorrow burns incense 

And bereavement strews flowers ; 
Where afliiction is cherished, 

And sacred its womb 
And holy the rendings 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 147 

That are born of the tomb ; 
Where memory's a mine 

Of gems priceless, untold, 
And the mintage of recollection 

Is more precious than gold ; 
Where love builds its altars 

And keeps burning their fires, 
Beareth its offerings 

And reareth the spires 
Of a wondrous metropolis. 

Built in the ground. 
Where the loved and the lost 

Of all ages are found ; 
And there, in nameless state enthroned, 

I receive existence born, 
Possessed of all its yesterdays 

And waiting its to-morrow's morn : 
Waiting the present's bustle, 

Its revelry and strife. 
Waiting its pomp, its powers, its pride. 

Its argosies of life ; 
Waiting the conquering years to come 

In triumphal train along, 
Waiting their splendors and their spoils. 

Their chains and captive throng; 
Waiting the race of mortal kind. 

With the course o'er which 'tis run, 



148 DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 

Waiting all Nature, Time, and Death, 

The universe and sun ; 
Waiting the system, with its orbs 

Which comi^ose this finite sphere. 
Waiting to bring the void again 

Which was ere form was here ; 
For all of these, in truth, are mine, 

And to me shall surely come 
Soon as the gathering shadows fall 

And each its work hath done. 
But why call I this victory. 

Or why such boast as gain. 
When the Son of Heaven's God eternal 

Hath felt the pressure of my chain ? 
When the " Fount of Life" 

In my domain was found, 
And the Creator infinite 

In the creature's arms lay bound? 
Ah, truly I'm mighty, 

But this triumph's sublime. 
And it raiseth me up 

Till I'm almost divine, — 
Raiseth me up to a height 

Where I see that, though 
Perhaps not in others. 

Thou art surely in me, 
Who not only subdueth 



DECLARATION OF THE GRAVE. 149 

These broad realms of Time, 
But have also led captive 

The Sovereign of thine. 
Behold, therefore, I pray thee. 

All my conquests and gains; 
Accept now my kinship 

And acknowledge my claims. 



13* 



IX. 

jEmmortalitK to tbt 6rabe. 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 



O Grave, transgression's 

Pale within, 
Reigning scion 

Of the house of sin, 
As the chronicles 

Doth evince, 
In doom's heraldry 

Euin's prince. 
Erected by- 
Almighty breath, 
On destruction's throne 

Outranking Death, 
Called of Omnipotence 

And given place. 
Queenly Nature 

To efface, 
As likewise also 

Lordly Time, 
Joint participants 

In a race's crime; 

153 



154 IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 

And though even thus 

From Divinity 
Receiving realm 

And sovereignty, 
Still, only crowned 

Of matter king, 
'Twas an ashen conquest 

Thou didst bring. 
In that the purpose 

Of thy reign 
Was through the rot 

To purge the stain ; 
But this, to Justice blest 

A guilt oblation. 
Dissolution meant 

For all creation. 
And while e'en this 

Is still thy name, 
And earth returns 

To Earth the same. 
As erst in Paradise 

Thy sceptre rose, 
Material rule 

For aye to close. 
Yet know, O Grave, 
Thy power for ill 
The heavens doth now 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 155 

With unction fiUj 
For lo! anon 

Upon the clay 
Which a penal 

Force did slay, 
Wasting in 

Thy caves away, 
Back to nothingness 

'Neath thy sway, 
From out corruption 

And decay, 
Putrefaction's parade 

And worm's array. 
With healing beams 

In cleansing play, 
Reviving glows 

Of living ray, 
Fringed about 

With deathless spray, 
Burst the glories 

Of redemj^tion's day ; 
And as its Chieftain 

Eent thy chain, 
Sought the heights 

Again to reign, 
Eang through Earth 

This glad refrain : 



156 IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 

"O Man, thy dust 

Shall rise again ; 
For behold, captivity 

I have led — 
By the blood 

In Death I shed, 
With the life 

For thee I gave — 
Captive e'en 

This conquering Grave ; 
And while supreme 

O'er spheres of Earth, 
Consuming all shapes 

Of carnal birth. 
Still list the strain, 

Devouring Tomb, 
I've made of thee 

Transition's womb, 
Of which, on incorruption's 

Natal morn, 
Sublime and spiritual 

Shall be born 
Glorified structures 

In Nature's guise. 
But transcending e'en 

Celestial skies 
In their bewilderin"- 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 157 

Glare above, 
As jewels foi- the diadem 

Of a Saviour's love ; 
For 'Lord of Glory,' 

I am He, 
And victory gives 

This crown to me." 
Hence, though no form 

Of human mould 
Can e'er escape 

Thy putrid hold, 
Flee thy portal 

Pale and dim, 
Nor pass around 

Thy castle grim, 
'Tis full as sure 

No power of air. 
Earth, Hell, or Heaven 

Can keep it there ; 
For lo ! O corruptible, 

There now awaits. 
Within the shimmerings 

Of pearly gates, 
'Neath life's 

Everlasting glow. 
By its fount's 

Immortal flow, 
14 



158 IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 

'Long the terraces 
Of joy supernal, 
'Side the mounts 
Of love eternal, 
On the thrones 

Salvation's gilding, 
In the saintly 

Mansions building — 
Of a Daysman's 

Travail done, 
And garnished with 

The spoils He's won — 
Imperial place 

And regal role 
For the body 

Like the soul, 
And naught inanimate 

Or of breath. 
Living might, 

Nor power of Death, 
Present things, 

Nor those to come. 
Height nor depth, 

Nor breadth in one, 
Decay's effacement. 

Nor extinction's trance, 
Shall ever rob it 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 159 

Of its inheritance. 
And, as an earnest 

Of the pledge, 
Behold, upon 

Dominion's ledge, 
Above all promontories 

Of being broad, 
In this self-same 

Flesh is God ; 
From whence. 

Incarnate as before. 
In the garb 

Through thee He wore, 
Deified at 

Thy riven door, 
"King of kings," 

He'll come once more 
In the pageantry 

Of Heaven's lore, 
"With the spirits 

Blest of yore ; 
Come, of eternity's 

Conquest o'er. 
To receive 

Thy garnered store, 
And to this coming, 

Lo ! thy yoke — 



160 IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 

E'en like the glebe 

Of earth-land broke — 
Eeceives frona reaper's 

Hand the grain, 
And sows it 

Unto life again ; 
But sows it all 

Of shrivelled wheat, 
Blasted by 

Sin's storm and heat; 
Sows it 

Of unripened corn, 
Which transgression's frost 

Hath shorn ; 
Sows it 

Of the Avithered fig, 
Plucked from frail guilt, 

Blighted twig; 
Sows it 

Of "Nature's dwarfed vine. 
Sows it of the drift 

Of Time, 
Sows it 

In expiring breath, 
Sows it with the hand 

Of Death ; 
Sows it 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 161 

'Neath the clods away, 
But ever in dishonor 

To decay, 
And hence the wonders 

That abound. 
The inexplicable mysteries 

That here are found 
By narrowed conceptions. 

Of finite sway, 
Around a blessed 

Eesurrection day; 
As though the unwasted energies 

Of a Creator's power — 
E'en the very same 

That calls the flower 
From out winter's catacombs 

Of ice and snow 
To the unapproachable splendors 

Of the spring-time's glow, 
The plumaged chorister 

From encasing cell. 
Or gorgeous butterfly 

Out a reptile's cell — 
Could not revive 

This human must, 
Nor vestments fashion 

For the saints from dust. 
14* 



162 IMMORTALITV TO THE GRAVE. 

Why, did He not 

At first create — 
In the majesty 

Of His sovereign state, 
And from very chaos 

To an eternal fate — 
Man's body, a marvel 

Full as great 
• As that which e'er 

Will attend its rise 
In immortal glory 

To its native skies? 
And may this God not now — 

When of nothing before — 
From the ruins of His building 

A temple restore ? 
Ay, verily ; but couldst thou 

Only comprehend 
Thou hast no wreckage 

For His hand to mend ! 
For lo ! though all unrecorded 

Of prophetic pen, 
Account its towering height 

O'er terrestial ken. 
And while far removed 

From earthly gaze 
By surrounding atmospheres 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 163 

Of mortal haze, 
A Eedeemer's ransom, 

Boasting Grave, 
Doth e'en this fabric 

From destruction save. 
For oh, amazing truth ! 

On reclaiming course, 
It transforms corruption 

At its fountain's source, 
And, ere the wearer 

E'en doth leave, 
On the loom of waste 

Begins to weave — 
Of snapping thread. 

And parting strand — 
The warp of the raiment 

For Immanuel's land ; 
And the only change 

In thine abodes, 
Where putrescent 

Mist corrodes, 
Is that decay's 

Erasing modes — 
Augmented e'er 

By grub's inroads — 
A trifle faster 

The spindle loads, 



164 IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 

And thus sooner completes 

For Heaven the robes 
With which the King 

His trophies fair 
Will full invest, 

In realms of air, 
At that wondrous 

Point of Time — 
The last and yet 

The most sublime — 
When a perfected creation 

Forth shall shine, 
In the uncreated excellence 

Of the life divine, 
A nameless satrap 

Of Deity 
In the cavalcade 

Of eternity. 
All the immensities 

Of infinitude o'er 
With its Lord to reign 

For evermore. 
And hence, O Grave, 

Thy vaunted sway. 
As well thy realm. 

Must pass away. 
Nor leave behind. 



IMMORTALITY TO THE GRAVE. 165 

Throughout all space, 
The veriest speck 

To point the place 
"Where thus, in dire 

And absolute overthrow. 
Existence met 

Its foulest foe. 



X. 

©rfence of ^tU. 



4 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 



Unlike all these subjects, 

My story I'll tell 
As becometh a monarch : 

My name is Hell, — 
A sovereign in all respects 

Equal to thee, 
E'en though 'twixt our realms lies 

An untraversable sea ; 
And while truly thy reign 

Hath been longer than mine, 
'Tis not more enduring. 

Nor yet more sublime; 
For I too am a ruler eternal, 

Swaying a sceptre divine, 
With a throne just as stable 

And a crown bright as thine; 
Possessed of a kingdom as mighty, 

A domain just as broad, 

15 169 



170 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

Clothed with powers fully as absolute 

As e'er were given by God ; 
Hence be pleased to remember, 

While my tale thou dost hear, 
That I come not as a supplicant. 

But to speak as thy peer; 
Hearken, therefore, I pray thee. 

While I, a prince brother, relate 
The glorious work I perform 

In this immortal state. 
Far back in the cycles, 

Ere Nature had birth, 
Before Time commenced to number 

The epochs of Earth, 
Ere Death o'er creation 

His dark banner unfurled, 
Or a gluttonous G-rave 

Began to prey on a world ; 
Before these skies e'en were fashioned. 

Or these orbs did adorn. 
Ere constellations appeared, 

Or these systems were born, 
Before immensity was peopled 

With on-rushing spheres. 
Or the comet took flight 

On its round of the years; 
Ere the thunders saluted 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 171 

Their Maker on high, 
Or the lightnings shot forth 

From His throne in the sky; 
Ere these stars rose to tivinkle, 

Or yon suns dawned to shine, 
Long anterior to Man's advent 

'Midst the children divine; 
But while yet all was chaos, 

Save the heights blest of thine, 
'Twas then the Godhead erected 

This black empire of mine; 
Built its walls massive, eternal. 

Its towers for aye to endure, 
Gave it gates everlasting 

And foundations secure; 
In profound isolation 

Eeared it far off, alone, 
In grim, awful grandeur. 

Beings damned for a home ; 
Filled it with terrors transcendent, 

Of which none can conceive, 
That no tongue may tell 

And no creature believe ; 
Gave it such depths 

Of despair, gloom, and woe, 
That e'en eternity's too short 

To the bottom to go ; 



172 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

Shrouded it in darkness, 

Then of fate fixed the reign, 
So that none passing its portals 

Would e'er forth come atjain : 
Named it " Abomination of Desolation," 

Then wrote o'er its gates, 
"Here divine retribution 

The transgressor awaits, 
For here every scourge 

Of God's vengeance is stored, 
And all of the vials 

Of His wrath are outpoured 
On the head of each subject 

Who rebels 'gainst His throne, 
For which crime damnation 

In these depths must atone." 
Thus sin's eternal doom sealed 

And its dwelling ordained. 
The judgment pronounced 

And the penalty framed, 
God called me to being 

In this His decree : 
" Hell, in my Justice 

I will hence reign in thee, 
For to execute this 

On those who defy, 
I must needs have a prison 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 173 

For the palace on high. 
I have therefore created, 

And while to thine hand 
I consign now forever 

This traitorous band 
Of beings once angels 

Eesplendent in light, 
Whom guilt hath transformed 

Into demons of night, 
I give thee commission, 

All the future to be. 
Death eternal to visit 

On all crime against me. 
However existent. 

Or wherever found, 
Throughout immensity's wastes 

To infinitude's bound ; 
And, with this ray rescript, 

I to thee impart 
Both the power and discernment 

To establish thy part, 
And thus add to my reign 

"What to law must be given, — 
The terrors of Gehenna 

With the glories of Heaven, 
I therefore make thee my viceroy. 

And here proclaim thee abroad, 
15* 



174 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

Prince Sovereign of Perdition 

In the peerage of God." 
Having thus by Jehovah 

Been .called to a throne 
Which, in point of stability, 

Was the peer of His own, 
I at once took my place 

In His Almighty reign, 
And, as Deity's inquisitor, 

I came in the train 
Of His creative majest}^. 

On its Omniscient rounds, 
As He fashioned the worlds 

With which His kingdom abounds, 
And as system by system 

To His empire was given, 
I tested their fealty 

And reported to Heaven. 
Hence when these low realms 

Of the finite had birth, 
I followed creation 

To the Eden of Earth,- 
And there, 'mid the scenes 

Of a Creator's rest, 
In the garden of innocence 

Which His presence had blest,. 
I first beheld Man, 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 175 

In the image Divine, 
The Lord of a world 

And its wonders sublime, 
Swaying the sceptre 

Of dominion at large, 
With land, ocean, and air 

Given o'er to his charge, — 
A being so Godlike, 

Majestic, and pure. 
That 'twould seem as tnough 

The heavens — which forever endure — 
Must sooner have fallen 

Ere he could transgress. 
Or his allegiance to God 

E'en an instant repress ; 
And yet I had only to offer. 

Then of safety assure. 
And his fall was complete 

And his end was secure ; 
For humanity's prince — 

Representing a race — 
That moment was banished 

For aye from the face 
Of an all-holy God, 

Who then decreed that he roam 
Through Time's dreary wastes 

Till Death brouirht him home 



176 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

To the abysmal depths 

Of damnation's sea, 
The full, eternal reward 

Of his credence in me ; 
And from that day to this, 

In an unbroken throng, 
His sin-stricken children 

All the centuries long, 
With hope all abandoned, 

In trembling and fear 
Have madly rushed to the fate 

Appointed them here, 
Where the guilt-tainted wretch 

Of Earth's every age 
Doth find that crime's freedom, 

After all, 's but a cage 
Filled with birds of uncleanness 

And vultures of prey 
That have stolen both God 

And His Heaven away, 
And all denuded hath left him, 

In the great evermore, 
A ghastly skeleton wreck 

On that eternal shore 
Where the thunders of wrath 

Doth unceasingly roll 
And the tide-waves of vengeance 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 177 

Engulfeth the soul 
In ruin as boundless 

And destruction as wide 
As the prison-house infinite 

In which they reside ; 
Where the chain bindeth fast 

And the bars are unwrenehed, 
*' Where the worm dieth not 

And the fire is not quenched," 
But where sin's every shade, 

And e'en the semblance of guilt, 
On the sword of Justice 

Are empaled to the hilt ; 
Where every stain on the soul, 

In all its blackness, returns 
And, inflamed by its venom. 

Everlastingly burns ; 
Where treachery's cunning 

And hypocrisy's dash, 
Unmasked and accursed, 

Are stung by the lash ; 
Where infidelity's teachings 

And heresy's tongue, 
'Midst the torments of verity, 

All the future are dumb ; 
Where blasphemj^'s scoflings. 

With its jestings profane, 



178 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

Doth reap of the whirlwind 

Its seedings of shame ; 
Where the greed that oppresseth 

And the mammon that begs, 
Of the cup of damnation 

Doth drink to the dregs ; 
Where vice and depravity 

Are consumed by their lust 
In the flame which reduceth 

What it feeds on to dust; 
Where vanity's tinsel 

Is singed of its gloss, 
And pride's only mooring 

Is its eternal loss ; 
Where all the ruined of Earth, 

With the fallen of light, 
Shut out from God's presence, 

Forever sink in the night 
That hath no silver linings 

To its dark clouds of gloom, 
No hope-ray to soften 

The terrors of doom, 
No chance of escape, 

No deliverance day, 
No hand that can snatch 

From these torments away; 
No relief from these wailings, 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 179 

No discharge from these fears, 
No surcease of sorrows, 

No end to these tears, 
No calms for these sobbings, 

No draught for this thirst. 
No bahn'for these hearts 

Which in agony burst; 
No rest for the weary. 

Nothing bright for the sad. 
No promising future 

To cheer and malie glad ; 
But ever the same, 

Only deepening apace 
As the cycles unending 

Eoll onward through space ; 
Deeper and deeper, 

Down, down they go 
To new scenes of torture 

And torment below; 
Farther and farther 

From the sainted above. 
Farther and farther 

From God and His love. 
Finding each instant 

Some lower place to dwell 
In the ever-deepening gloom 

Of a bottomless Hell. 



180 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

Horror of horrors, 

Pandemon's land, 
Peoj)led with demons, 

Devils, and damned. 
Where turmoil and strife 

In hideous uproar abound. 
Where despair gnaws the soul 

And the canker-worm's found ; 
Where wild cries for deliverance 

Ever pierceth the air, 
And the dragon Eemorse 

Ne'er returns to his lair ; 
Where passion's unbridled 

And lust's not restrained, 
Where appetite's no bounds 

And vice goes unchained, 
With nothing to satisfy, 

Naught ever assuaged, 
No power to conciliate 

These monsters uncaged; 
No place of refuge 

For which to take flight, 
Nothing left but to sink 

In eternity's night. 
Such, then, my kingdom, 

Thus sin-built the throne 
On which — God's minister of vengeance- 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 181 

I reign supreme and alone, 
With an archfiend for chancellor, 

Legions of demons whom his edicts obey, 
Ever forth in the Earth going. 

Seeking souls for their prey. 
But no appearance like this 

On yon side the skies; 
There the Hell-garb's discarded 

For some attractive disguise ; 
For though my agencies myriad 

Are of the lowest depths here, 
Yet as Heaven's own chosen 

They in Time dolh appear ; 
Imps of blackness 

In raiment white, 
Hideous devils 

As seraphs bright, 
Monsters of wickedness 

In holy places. 
Fiends infernal 

With cherubs' faces. 
Destruction's emissaries 

In saints' attire. 
Offering life 

On its funeral pyre, 
Perdition's minions 

Lulling sense 

16 



182 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

By a tender of bliss 

As the recompense, 
Covering up bitterness 

'Neath a coating of sweet, 
Feeding Man ashes 

In the semblance of meat, 
Masking corruption 

With the health-glowings pinlc, 
Concealing the precipice 

With flowers at its brink ; 
Tempting with honors, 

Bribing with gold, 
Yet ne'er telling the price 

At which these are sold; 
Alluring with pleasure 

And the joys that entice. 
Leading captive with passion 

And ensnaring with vice; 
Wreathing the cup 

With innocent mirth, 
Yet hiding the horrors 

To which it gives birth ; 
Presenting place and position 

As the sum total of good, — 
A stone now for bread 

And a serpent for food ; 
Giving darkness for light. 



DEFENCE OF HELL. 183 

Taking brightness for gloom, 
Asking Heaven for Hell 

And glory for doom ; 
At all times appearing 

As exponents of right, 
Decojdng the unwary 

To these regions of night. 
And how well they succeed, 

Thou hast only to class 
Here at Death's gates 

The numbers that pass 
Each hour, aye, each instant, 

And then thou wilt see 
That I receive thousands 

Where one goes to thee ; 
And this steady strain 
■ Of the lost ones thus won 
Will never diminish 

Till these earth-years are done. 
And then, for the future — 

But that's needless to tell, 
For well dost thou know 

There will e'er be a Hell, — 
A Hell deep as infinitude. 

Like immensity broad, 
O'erflowing with torment, 

And eternal as God ; 



184 DEFENCE OF HELL. 

Hence, in view of thia record, 
'Tis the boast of my sway, 

I'm in all things thy peer, 

And thou canst not answer nay. 



XI. 

ImmortalitK to ffielL 



16* 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 



Oh, hideous monster ! 

Black demon of woe ! 
'Twas surely wisdom divine 

That fixed thy portion below, 
That established thy dwelling 

In regions of night, 
Abandoned of God 

And shut out from His sight ; 
That, far down in a corner 

Of immensity, built 
Thy vaults of corruption 

And thy sink-holes of guilt, 
Whence the howls of the damned 

Could never ascend, 
Nor the stench from the rotting 

Would ever offend ; 
There is no other place, surely. 

In eternal realms wide, 
Save these lowlands infernal, 

Where thou couldst reside ; 

187 



188 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Thou art e'en truly so loathsome 

As scarce to seem fit 
To e'en have a home 

In this horrible pit, 
Of whose pollution and terrors 

I ne'er told need be, 
Now that mine eyes 

Have rested on thee ; 
And yet — the chief monster fiend 

From this den — thou art come 
With devilish effrontery 

To claim we are one. 
Does the prison-house ever 

To the palace compare? 
And pray tell me, since when 

Are dungeons so fair? 
Since when hath the garb 

That the convict doth wear 
Been stamped with the impress 

Of royalty there ? 
Since when hath his fetters, 

That dismally clank, 
Become the insignia 

Of regal order or rank? 
Or since when hath the cage 

Of the prisoner, alone. 
Attained to the majesty 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 189 

Of the dais and throne? 
Since when hath the famished, 

Appealing for bread, 
Supplanted the children 

Who at the table are fed ? 
Since when hath the transport 

Or the crushed galley-slave 
Succeeded the ruler 

Who doth pardon and save? 
Or since when hath the shrieks 

At the gates of despair 
Been changed to hosannas 

Greeting the heir? 
Since when hath realms cursed 

Lost their mantle of woes, 
Or the hot arid waste 

Began to bloom as the rose? 
Since when hath the depths 

Ascended on high, 
Or the lowest part of creation 

Been transformed to its skj'? 
Or since when hath sovereignty 

Ceased wielding the rod. 
Or thou — prince of devils — 

Become the compeer of God ? 
And yet all this, impossible, 

Would first have to be 



190 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Ere thou e'en couldst obtain 

An acquaintance with me. 
Thou art at best a creation, 

And that of order so low 
That Infinite knowledge alone 

Can thy depravity know ; 
Yet, hideous, abandoned, 

And vile as thou art, 
Eternal Justice created. 

Then gave thee a part 
In the Divine administration, 

Once only of love. 
Till angels, transgressing, fell 

From high orders above, 
And for these convict and outcast 

Came this prison-house plan ; 
'Twas never conceived of 

Nor intended for Man ; 
But he, — an eternal creation 

Of the heavenly King, — 
In their stead 'twas decreed 

A new homage should bring. 
Not that light would e'er miss 

Its few bright, banished ones. 
Or skies immortal be dimmed 

By these blotted-out suns ; 
For had the heavens e'en fallen, 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 191 

Still their Builder would reign, 
And He ten-thousandfold grander 

Could have created again ; 
But, of that inscrutable wisdom 

Which hedgeth His throne, 
He fixed Man the chief light 

In His creative zone 
Invested him with the image 

None other had borne, 
And conferred His own likeness 

To perfect and adorn ; 
Breathed the life of eternity 

Into his frame, 
Then gave him a world 

To control in His name ; 
Of all other beings 

With him held converse alone, 
E'en descended the heights 

And appeared in his home ; 
For already with semblance 

He'd implanted an infinite mind 
With capabilities only 

By His Omniscience defined ; 
And had naught ever obstructed 

This avenue broad 
Which led from the creature 

Direct to his God, 



192 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Had nothing e'er marred 

This intercourse sweet, 
In which the Eternal and finite 

As in friendship did meet, 
Man, borne aloft by the forces 

Of its divinely-translating leaven, 
Would have become a prince of immortals 

And Earth a suburb of Heaven. 
But away, away with the possibilities 

Of what once might have been ; 
They're monstrous realities, 

Not the ghosts of it, seen ; 
Not merely some vague 

Phantomed wonder that fell. 
But the form and the substance 

Of thy torments, O Hell ; 
For 'twas these built thy dungeons, 

With their gloom, blight, and dearth, 
Stole brightness from Heaven 

And its monarch from Earth, — 
Ambitious possibilities 

That forth with angels were thrust, 
That called the Lord of creation 

Back from glory to dust. 
And just here lies the secret 

Of all pollution and thee : 
God, all holy, the Sovereign, 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 193 

But the creature made free, 
Given freedom to act, 

Left untrammelled to choose, 
God's love and His Heaven 

To retain or to lose. 
Angels possessed this, but perverted 

And of their own volition fell 
From the topmost heights of the heavens 

To the nethermost Hell, 
Whence, on temptation's voice borne, 

Into Eden it came, 
And Man surrendered his birthright 

To destruction and shame • 
But, ere the full measure 

Of his ruin was wrought, 
All the energies of Deity 

To the rescue were brought. 
God saw and He pitied, 

Then this promise He gave : 
" Behold, once I created, 

But now I will save, — 
Save from the blackness 

Of carnal night. 
Save in the majesty 

Of my Godhead's might, 
Save from the doom 

Of mortal strife, 
17 



194 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Save by the power 

Of an endless life ; 
Save, yea, in all respects worthy 

The Daysman shall be, 
For I lay hold on one 

"Who's Almighty to free, 
One whom my Justice 

Doth accept in Man's place., 
One all sufficient 

To atone for a race, 
One upon whom 

The debt now is laid, 
One who assumes it 

And will see it all paid, 
One who will ransom, 

And, having purchased, will be 
A sure guide to lead 

Through the lowlands to me ; 
And while Death hath dominion, 

And the Grave, too, shall reign. 
They but refine from the dross 

And doth cleanse from the stain ; 
For in them, and through them, 

The price goes before 
That my love all doth purchase 

And my Heaven restore." 
And though it required an eternal ofi'cring 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 195 

To thus redeem from the loss, 
Though the way led through flesh 

And by a manger and cross, 
Though it bowed down the heavens 

And made vacant His throne, 
Yet in His own all-holy person 

'Twas accomplished alone. 
Amazing humiliation, 

Condescension sublime, 
This self-abnegation 

Of the Sovereign Divine ; 
Marvel of marvels, 

E'en in angelic ken, 
God Almighty descendeth 

To the rescue of men ! 
Not, however, in the plenitudes 

Of a Creator's fame, 
Not in the sublimit}' 

Of the Euler's name, 
Not in the prowess 

Of Jehovah wroth, — 
"With the chariot of Israel 

And the horsemen thereof," — 
Not in the van 

Of a heavenly train. 
Illumed with the wonders 

Of eternity's reign. 



196 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Not e'en 'midst the suit 

Which a vassal brings, 
Much less with the retinue 

Of the " King of Kings ;" 
But forth from the panoply 

Of Omnipotent might, 
Out of the effulgence 

Of its blinding light. 
Dropping the symbols 

Of Almighty sway, 
Casting the vestments 

Of Godhead away, 
Laying aside 

An eternal crown, 
From all dominion 

Stepping down. 
Unattended, 

All alone, 
The measureless altitudes 

Of infinitude's throne. 
Before archangels' 

Astonished gaze, 
Immortal princes 

In bewildered daze, 
'Twixt flaming seats 

Of startled seraphim. 
Through the wondering ranks 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 197 

Of the cherubim, 
'Midst celestial hosts 

In mute surj^rise, 
Legions of angels 

"With dazzled eyes, 
From rank to rank 

Ho downward wends, 
Order by order 

Still descends 
'Long the lists and files 

Of the heavenly glories, 
By the principalities and powers 

Of immensity's stories, 
'Cross the domains 

Of world-thronged space, 
O'er the wilds 

Where meteors race, 
Into the realms 

Of finite birth, 
By the planet's course 

He reaches Earth. 
Calls not the bivouac 

From its "hills of night" 
To yield attendance 

On the "Prince of Light," 
Awakes not its spheres, 

In anthems sublime, 
17* 



198 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

To publish the coming 

Of the Sovereign Divine, 
Unchains not its elements 

To thunder abroad 
The incarnate advent 

Of their Creator God, 
Impresseth not to His service 

The orb of its day. 
Takes but a star 

To gild Deity's way, 
And, in the gleam 

This herald throws. 
Still down and down 

And down He goes, 
Past imperial palace 

And ro^-al dome, 
Princely residence 

And viceregal home, 
Avoiding governor's mansion 

And templed wall. 
The sanhedrim's court 

And the judgment-hall. 
Aside alike from the noble's 

And the fellah's door. 
The shepherd's tent 

With its native floor. 
E'en away from the inn ; 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 199 

Then, gracious God, where? 
Behold, in a stable, — 

Life's Sun riseth there ; 
The Omnipotent Suzerain became 

Of an outlawed clan, 
"God's Messiah" 

A lonely Man, 
The "Centre of Being" 

Was given birth, 
The " Source of Knowledge" 

Learned of Earth, 
Immensity's Proprietor 

Went unfed, 
Creation's Builder 

Had no bed, 
The " God of Angels" 

AVept alone, 
The " King of Heaven" 

Had no home; 
Infinitude's Almoner 

Must need endure, 
For God's Eternal Son 

Was poor; 
Nature's Upholder 

No succor found, 
The "Judge of the Universe" 

Was a prisoner bound, 



200 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

The '^ Lord of Hosts" 

Was mocked, defied, 
And the ''Prince of Peace" 

Was crucified ; 
The "Ancient of Days" 

Was clothed with Time, 
Jehovah Infinite 

Did flesh entwine, 
Omniscient Deity 

Was taught to see, 
The "Ever-Living" 

Began to be; 
The "Ahiiighty Creator" 

Had a natal morn, 
The "Eternal Father" 

As a child was born, 
The great " I Am" 

Drew mortal breath, 
And the " Fount of Life" 

Expired in Death. 
He celebrated His advent 

'Midst the brute kind, a stranger; 
A homeless babe of penury, 

Was hedged with danger; 
For His very life 

Was forced to flee 
The mountain-pass. 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 201 

By night, to Galilee ; 
Endured a childhood of hardship 

Which passeth belief, 
Was "A Man of Sorrows, 

And acquainted with grief;" 
Was mocked by the might}-, 

By the wise laughed to scorn, — 
A despised Nazarene, 

E'en of Bethlehem born ; 
Was jeered by the populace, 

Called impostor and fraud, 
" A Wine-bibber and Glutton" 

Who claimed to be God ; 
Was derided by princelings, 

'• Friend of Sinners" was styled, 
By the nobles traduced 

And the masses reviled ; 
Was persecuted by the priesthood. 

By the elders contemned, 
By hirelings convicted. 

And the rulers condemned ; 
Was set upon by the multitude, 

By the mob was misused, 
By the soldiery scourged. 

And the rabble abused ; 
Was spit upon by a creature, 

By a friend was denied, 



202 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

By a robber supplanted, 

And a felon defied; 
Was deserted b}^ followers, 

From kindred affection hurled. 
The prey of a disciple 

And the victim of a world. 
Depths of depravity! 

O Hell, can it be 
That this is the ransom 

Which alone saves from thee? 
Heights of the heavens, 

What an infinite price. 
When God Eternal Himself 

Was the sacrifice I 
Oh, how the wonder deepens 

Into unutterable sublimity 
Before this vicarious mission 

Of God's humanity! 
Well might immensity marvel. 

And the hierarchies of eternity be dazed, 
And the watcher of Earth fall prostrate, 

Transfixed with awe, as he gazed 
On that crowning spectacle august 

Of Jehovah's redemptive plan. 
As it laid a God on the altar, 

A penal offering for Man. 
For Man ? ay, and he the rebel 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 203 

Against the one who gave, 
The defamer, persecutor, crucifier 

Of Him who came to save. 
Surely the Divine humility 

Must here have kissed the floor, 
For e'en Ahnighty condescension 

Could humble and abase no more : 
Earth's salutations to its Eedeemer came 

In a stable stall of oxen breath, 
And 'midst a convict train it bade adieu 

With a felon's cross and a malefactor's death. 
Eternal Justice ! 

Where were thy lightnings sheathed ? 
Avenging Godhead ! 

By whom came this guilt reprieved ? 
Hosts of the Infinite ! 

Whither garrisoned thou didst not see? 
And what power, O Shechinah, 

Withheld the stroke by thee? 
And yet, with no eye to pity, 

No friend to cheer apace, 
Refused the succor of Heaven 

And denied His Father's face ; 
But surrounded by foes malignant. 

The butt of insulting voice, 
He yielded Himself in atonement 

Of His own, His Godhead's, choice. 



204 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

But, oh, the eternal import 

Of this scene of Deicide ! 
'Tis bridging the infinite chasm 

Which holiness and sin divide. 
Oh, the everlasting significance 

Of these expiring groans ! 
They mean that perdition's dungeons 

Are changing to Heaven's thrones. 
Oh, the inestimable conquests 

Achieved in this fleeting breath ! 
'Tis robbing the Grave of victory 

And plucking the sting from Death. 
And oh, this crimson torrent 

Which from His side doth flow! 
'Tis cleaving a passage to glory, 

While it floods the road to Avoe. 
But hark ! " 'Tis finished," the Conquerer cries, 

"Guilt's captives now are free. 
And God henceforth is love again, 

For all wrath hath been spent on me. 
Henceforth an exhaustless fountain floweth hero 

Which cleanseth from every stain. 
Where all the dying of the Earth 

May life and Heaven regain. 
Henceforth a deathless beacon's set 

On this topmost hill of Time, 
And on the road which leads to life 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 205 

Its light shall ever shine ; 
While henceforth to Earth's latest hour 

This cross shall point the way 
To the rich possessions of my love 

Which my blood makes free this day. 
E'en 10 the mansions of the just 

I go now to prepare, 
And henceforth a single glance this way 

Will enthrone the vilest there." 
Heaven, transported, heard the cry 

Of a world redeemed from sin. 
And the everlasting doors uplifted were 

To let the King triumphant in, 
Who came in pomp and majesty 

Back to His sovereign reign. 
With every foe beneath His feet. 

E'en thou in His captive train ; 
And there, above all heights exalted, 

Earth's ransomed ranged before, 
He takes up His royal diadem 

And studs it Avith jewels o'er; 
And there throughout a glorious eternity 

Shall the throne-room's arches ring 
With the " Glory, glory, hallelujahs !" 

Which these redeemed will sing, — 
Sing in transporting strains triumphant, 

Surpassing e'en seraphs' powers, 
18 



206 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

" Thrice blessed ever be His blood, 

For its wonders all are ours." 
E'en now a host hath gathered there, 

Yet on and on they come 
To join the Conqueror in the feast 

Of eternal victories won ; 
While ever, ever through Death's waste 

The Master loud doth call, 
" Behold, O Earth, Life's banquet waits, 

With tables spread for all." 
E'en for the vilest of the vile, 

The basest of Adam's race, 
Ay, e'en for a Saviour's murderers 

Is here reserved a place. 
" Only accept," the Host doth cry, 

" The bidding which I give ; 
Come to this marriage feast of love, 

Here sup with me and live : 
Live for eternity here at home 

In the Heaven of heavens with me, 
An immortal, glorified purchase of the blood 

Which in Time I shed for thee." 
Ah, to the heights God gives His presence. 

Still the depths His wonders know. 
From the heavens above His glory shines 

And His justice reigns below ; 
E'en to the confines of immensity 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 207 

His goodness doth provide, 
His band sustains the rolling spheres 

And doth the planets guide; 
While His love, enduring, boundless 

As the eternity it enfolds, 
Extendeth to all infinitude 

And its every atom holds; 
But for rebellious, sin-cursed Earth — 

A speck in His empire wide — 
Was reserved the marvel of His reign, 

Since there for Man He died ; 
And 3-et, despite this matchless ransom, 

Unmindful how erst he fell, 
The creature follows yet his will, 

And, an ingrate, sinks to Hell ; 
For in all His eternal vastness, 

With the might which is its goal, 
E'en God, without the sinner's sanction, 

Cannot save a single soul. 
But why should I to thee 

This stupendous tale unfold, 
With its infinite conception 

And mysteries manifold? 
Or why, to an object 

So abandoned as thee. 
E'en allude to the blessedness 

Transcendent in me ? 



208 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Surely not to excite thine envy, 

But only to let thee see 
How utterly lost to self and God 

Are all who go to thee ; 
Not because of might or aught enticing 

That could delude or Earth hath craved, 
But simply that the sinner chooseth 

To be lost instead of saved ; 
For no creature ever reached thy gates 

From the range of entreaty's voice, 
But, headstrong, persistent, went to Death 

Of his own free will and choice ; 
No mortal yet's been swept away 

By thine all-engulfing tide, 
But sank forever 'neath its wave 

The veriest suicide ; 
And not a single solitary soul 

Will ever feel thy gloom 
Till first 't has trampled atoning blood. 

And who then may mourn its doom? 
Truly, Heaven hath no regrets for these. 

Nor will e'er the ransomed sigh ; 
The "light of life" will only brighten 

As these falling shadows die; 
Only will the song of triumph 

Its' full power and range attain 
When the last of foes is captive 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 209 

And the rebels all are slain. 
Then, with naught to mar the celebration, 

Naught to slight redeeming love, 
Ever grandly through the cycles 

Will life's anthems swell above, 
Nameless, peerless, priceless 

As the object they adore, 
Glorious, boundless, endless 

As the source from whence they pour. 
Life! measureless and unwasting 

As the Fount's eternal flow, 
Freely, fully by its Author offered 

To each erring child of woe ; 
Love ! all-sufficient, yea, and anxious 

That the lost of Earth be saved. 
And that ere thy gates stood open 

Solely came of wills depraved ; 
Ay, more : at thy portals e'en 

This love e'er stands 
With pierced side 

And bleeding hands, 
Calling by name 

Each passer-by : 
'•Ho! ye blood-bought, 

Why thus die?" 
No, God never damns 

What He creates ; 

18* 



210 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

Men, like angels, 

Choose their fates; 
Death makes no change 

For good or ill, 
The sinner is 

The sinner still; 
Hence what he wills 

In Time to be 
He carries with him 

To eternity ; 
Carries his foibles 

Great and small, 
Base propensities 

And habits all ; 
Carries his envy, 

Malice, scorn, 
The sordid tastes 

Of his passions born ; 
Carries his filthy 

And foul desires, 
Loathsome appetites 

With consuming fires ; 
Carries his hatred 

Of the pure and just. 
Arrogance and avarice. 

Greed and lust; 
Carries the stains 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 211 

Of his sinful life, 
The wounds and scars 

Of unhallowed strife ; 
Carries the trappings 

Of his secret shame, 
The unmasked blackness 

Of an apostate name ; 
Carries his infamy, 

Guilt, and crime. 
Contempt of Heaven 

And things divine ; 
Carries his every sin. 

With its blight and dearth, 
And is just in the future 

As he left the Earth, 
Only possessed 

Of what Death hedged hero, — 
The limitless license 

Of a deathless sphere. 
If, then, such be thy subjects. 

How needless to tell 
That 'twixt thee and me 

Their choice would be Hell ! 
For how could such ingrates. 

Base rejecters of love, 
Be ever content 

In its mansions above? 



212 IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 

How, think you, such beings, 

"Who delight to profane, 
Could e'er eternally sing 

Of a Eedeemer slain ? 
Or what kind of manna 

Could Paradise give 
On which these polluted 

E'en a moment could live ? 
Or how could tbese childi-en 

Of sin's lowlands and night 
E'er endure an eternity 

On the mountains of light ? 
Wh}', its very airs would be stifling 

And its calms would oppress, 
Its pursuits would be torture 

And its joys would distress, 
Its brightness would burn 

And its paeans would grind, 
Its holiness blister. 

While its glories would blind ; 
Not a single vale in its borders 

Would offer repose, 
And all of their sojourn 

Would be burdened with woes ; 
For of the country's blest millions 

Not one would they know, 
And 'midst a city of palaces 



IMMORTALITY TO HELL. 213 

Have no place to go. 
God, therefore, not of" wrath but compassion, 

In thee doth provide 
A vast eternal cavern 

Where all such can reside, 
Have life as they wish it. 

Untrammelled and free. 
In the fathomless depths 

Of depravity's sea ; 
Ever deeper to sink there 

As the cycles on wend. 
Undisturbed by the prospect 

Of reaching an end. 
Such, then, O Hell, 's thy boasted empii-e, 

Thus thy realms perdition span, 
The doom heritage of rebellious light. 

But mercy's legacy to defiant Man. 



XII. 

^rager of Mm. 



I 



Then, as each rebuked, despairing shadow 

From her presence forth did flee, 
With a mien benign, majestic, 

Life's exponent turned to me, 
And in tones the Muse might envy. 

Such melody thrilled their gentle flow, 
"Come, my child, come closer," said she; 

" What is it that thou wouldst know ? 
Hast thou longings after rest? 

Seek to be forever blest ? 
If so, then what's thy behest? 

What of me wouldst thou request ?" 



19 217 



PRAYER OF MAN. 



Oh, I said, I'm but a waifling 

Cast upon a cruel world, 
Conscious only of existence, 

'Mid its scenes of sorrow hurled ; 
Nothing but a bit of wreckage 

Tossed about on waves of life, 
Battling ever 'gainst disaster, 

Overwhelmed in seas of strife ; 
At the best a wretched exile, 

Pilgrim in a foreign land, 
Wasted in a hostile country, 

Famished on a desert strand, 
All without my will or sanction. 

And in which I've had no voice, 
Given form and place and being 

All regardless of my choice ; 
Ignorant even where I came from, 

How I live, or whither go. 
Ah, that of all doth most concern me. 

That's the thing I fain would know; 

219 



220 FRAYER OF MAN. 

Here I find myself existent 

In a low-down twilight sphere 
By its shades and gloom enveloped, 

Grovelling 'neath the slavish fear ; 
Of its blinded sight begotten, 

Of its mysteries given birth, 
Binding fast with carnal fetters 

Mortal bondsmen to the Earth, 
Whence no faith provideth pinions, 

Naught inspires the soul to flight, 
. But each chain-tug of the captive 

Only brings a deeper night 
To this understanding finite, 

Close immured in fleshen walls. 
Where no paean e'er resoundeth. 

And but one deliverer calls ; 
From the black-damp of the dungeon, 

From the pressure of its chain. 
From the bars 'gainst which the spirit 

Casts and breaks itself in vain ; 
From this dismal gloom surrounding. 

With its heavy stifling air, 
From its noxious breath outpouring 

Withering blight on all that's fair ; 
From these lurid skies o'erhansxins:. 

By the tempest rent and torn. 
From the darkness ne'er uplifted, 



PRAYER OF MAN. 221 

From this night which hath no morn ; 
From these unrequited labors, 

From the toil which leaves a stain, 
From this grief-rewarded effort 

With its recompense of pain ; 
From these broken, shattered idols 

In the temple of my love. 
From my hopes all worn returning, 

Tired of wing, like Noah's dove ; 
From the cares which here beset me, 

From the ills that press me sore, 
Piercing e'en to being's centre, 

Burning to my bosom's core ; 
From the breakers round me surging. 

From the tide-wave's threat'ning roll, 
Battering down the outer casement, 

Rushing frenzied on the soul, 
Only one escape doth offer. 

That as horrid as to stay, 
Dissolution's portal 3-awning 

O'er the vortex of decay. 
Still with hope all crushed, abandoned, 

In mine anguish day by day 
Anxious yearn I for the freedom 

That will loose this bond of clay. 
That will open wide the prison 

Where I've sighed and languished long, 
19* 



222 PRAYER OF MAN. 

Eend its bars and bolts asunder, 

Sever from its fleshen thong; 
That will end my lease of sorrow 

In this plague-infested hall, 
With its pain-racked frame and timbers, 

Eeady any hour to fall ; 
That will let me out this earth-house, 

Beat upon by every blast, 
On the sands of Time receding 

To an all-effacing past; 
That will rescue from this island, 

Far removed from passing sail, 
With its solitudes unbroken 

Save by ocean roar and gale ; 
That will call me from my exile 

In this alien land unkept, 
Where the ages all have languished 

And each careworn pilgrim wept; 
That will break this fever fitful. 

With its feeble, fluttering breath, 
From it all release and save me. 

Even though it be by Death. 
A ghastly source of freedom, truly. 

Yet what else hath life to cheer? 
Earth is but a horror chamber, 

Nothing's worth the living here; 
Nothing worthy e'en the having, 



PRATER OF MAN. 223 

Aside the labor to attain, 
Nothing worth the bare possession, 

Much less effort to sustain ; 
Nothing in this cursed Earth-land 

Save duration filled with blight, 
Straggling rays of hope which endeth 

In despair's pervading night; 
Little scraps of pleasure floating 

On unbounded seas of woe, 
Patches small of calm o'erdotting 

Howling wastes where monsoons blow ; 
"Wasted springs of peace commingling 

With the tides of mortal strife, 
Di'oppings few of comfort sinking 

In the sands of human life, 
Barely seen as they are passing, 

Hardly felt and little known. 
E'en unto a vapor likened, 

Scarcely fashioned till it's flown ; 
Scarcely a scene of beauty outlined 

Till it fades before the eye, 
And no thing of joy o'ertaken 

Ere it findeth wings to fly ; 
Hardly a sip of sweetness tasted, 

Then the draught doth change to gall, 
And no loving structure raised 

But 'tis shaken to its fall ; 



224 PRAYER OF MAN. 

Barely a touch of aught that's lovely, 

When the hidden thorn appears, 
While the mirth that wreathes the features 

All too soon is bathed in tears. 
Earth's delights are therefore phantoms, 

Mundane trusts reposed in clay, 
Finite bliss the veriest mirage 

Drifting o'er life's wastes away, 
Glorious Edens of the fancy. 

Like its castles, wondrous fair. 
But whene'er I seek the substance, 

Lo! I find 'tis all of air; 
Fruitful Canaans in prospective, 

Eich in harvests plain to see. 
But my footsteps press the desert 

Burning where these seemed to be ; 
Bashan's vales, in contemplation 

Cool, inviting to the mind. 
But of strife and desolation 

Are its valleys left behind, 
Like the happy days of stor}' 

In the by and by for me. 
Or the ships with treasure laden 

Sailing to me o'er the sea. 
Are these glows in Time deceptive, 

Illusive mists upon the sands. 
Spectral streams which only madden 



PRAYER OF MAN. 225 

Thirsty hosts in arid lands ; 
"Where the things the most substantial 

Are the very first undone, 
And the founts that seem exhaustless 

Prove to be the soonest run. 
All is transient, naught enduring, 
Change is stamped on all below, 
E'en existence, like the flood's wave. 

Leaves but a memory of its flow, — 
Solely a thought of the seconds 
Which in every heart-beat fl}^, 
To the moments brief and fleeting. 
And the hour hath hastened by; 
Merely a breath of the morning, 

And noon-tide hurries fast. 
Then the after-glare and evening shade, 

And thus the day is past. 
Only a glimpse of the spring-time 

Till summer's heats are on. 
Through autumn's fading to winter, 

And then the year is gone ; 
A vanishing vision of childhood. 

As youth towards manhood tends, 
A world of care, then tottering steps 

To where the journey ends; 
A season brief of waking, 

Of slumber a trifle more, 
P 



226 PRAYER OF MAN. 

From the toil a little resting, 

Then the troubled dream is o'er; 
A dweller only in the present, 

The past all gone before, 
And nothing ever of the future 

Save its knockings at the door ; 
An animated bubble called being 

Dangling at the end of breath. 
Life amid life's ruins. 

Existence in the arms of Death ; 
Groping among the sepulchres 

Of ancestors and sires, 
By kindred wreck environed, 

'Tis born and then expires, 
Sinks to the mould that bare it, 

A crumbling earthen crust. 
Through the night of putrefaction 

Back to its natal dust; 
A weary, fitful journey 

Through scenes of carnal gloom. 
O'er a rugged pathway leading 

From the cradle to the tomb ; 
A thorn-strewn, stony highway 

Trod by the flesh-bound slave, 
Yoked to his own mortality 

And hastening to the Grave; 
In the doleful caravan 



PRAYER OF MAN. 227 

Of earthly years, 
Freighted with humanity's 

Hopes and fears, 
O'er sterile waste, 

Through vales forlorn, 
A dreary pilgrimage 

To an untried bourne ; 
A rough, tempestuous voyage 

On an angry wave-lashed sea, 
O'er fell wastes of waters stretching 

Through Time to eternity; 
A dismal outward passage, 

The main by no ship reerossed, 
Borne under by the surge's roll 

And high on the billows tossed ; 
An atom of human frailty 
On an ocean wild afloat. 
Essaying to breast the maelstrom 

In a stoved and sinking boat ; 
A heavy-laden, laboring craft, 

Fierce swept the gale before, 
A water-logged, dismantled hulk 

Drifting on an unknown shore ; 
A bitter, wasting conflict 

'Gainst numberless assailants rife, 
Beginning with the birth of Man 
And waged through all his life ; 



228 PR AVER OF MAN. 

A fierce, unequal struggle 

Which hath for each a part, 
And rageth in the kingly breast 

As well the peasant's heart ; 
A M'arfare every day renewed 

The mortal's years along. 
Till sobs become his war-cry 

And groans his battle-song; 
For Grave rest's the only trophy 

Which doth inspire " the line," 
And Death the only victor 

On the battle-fields of Time. 
Still, e'en this is life's fair vision : 

What then can the dark side be. 
With its depths of human sorrows. 

Fathomless as the -^gean Sea? 
When the strong of Earth grow weary 

'Neath the burdens of the load, 
What a tale could pain-racked pilgrims 

Tell of trials 'long the road ? 
If Time's favored ones are famished 

'Midst luxurious ease and gold. 
What would be the poor man's story 

In the fight 'gainst want and cold ? 
And when e'en the world's exalted 

Find but misery in renown, 
Who may name the waves of anguish 



PRAYER OF MAN. 229 

That o'erwhelm the trodden-down ? 
And yet, 'mid all this ruin, 

My soul seeks a higher plane, 
A more substantial heritage 

And a more exalted name ; 
It longs for a land of freedom. 

Exempt from all mortal claims, 
That hath no carnal rendings 

And knows no fleshen chains ; 
It yearns for a realm eternal, 

Uncorrupted by decay. 
Where reigns in fadeless splendors 

The joys of endless day ; 
It sighs for a haven peaceful 

Beyond these swelling tides, 
Where, 'midst the calms of stormless seas, 

A glorious rest abides ; 
While here within my bosom 

A something whispers o'er, 
"These desires ai-e only foretastes 

Of what doth lie before. 
Only the faint outlinings 

Of nameless things to be, 
Eeflections dim of wonders grand 

These ej-es shall one day see." 
To like effect there comes a voice 

From that revealed Divine, 
20 



230 PRATER OF MAN. 

And oh, what raptures these inspire 

In this i^oor heart of mine! 
For if in truth such be the case, 

What need I further care ? 
How insignificant all ills of Time 

When classed with glories there! 
What trivial things these sorrows are, 

Which oft seem mountain hio-h I 
When contrasted with the recompense 

That awaiteth them on high I 
How abject mean this slavish fear 

Which faltereth in the fight, 
Before a coronation morn 

On the palaced hills of light! 
What veriest play this earthly toil, 

How light this mortal load. 
When Life Eternal's the reward 

And Heaven doth end the road! 
Or what a peaceful, blessed calm 

Pervades the ocean's roar. 
Around the bark, however frail, 

Bound for a deathless shore ! 
But anon doubt-shadows gather. 

Unbelief doth cloud mine eyes, 
While 'midst contentious reasonings 

The hope-ray, drooping, dies 
And leaves me in the darkness 



PRAYER OF MAN. 231 

To grope as best I can, 
A creature of despair begot 

By the sophistries of Man ; 
For while I fain would heed the voice 

Which e'er through my spirit rings, 
And accept as truth the teachings 

Which the page of Scripture brings, 
Still this limited conception earthy 

Is powerless to defend, 
And must succumb to marvels 

Which it cannot comprehend ; 
And thus amid the mistings 

I'm a drifting wreck at sea, 
Engulfed by every mystery 

Of life and Death and thee ; 
And hence I turn to human lore 

To illume my darkened mind, 
Only in gloom to realize 

I'm guided by the blind ; 
For e'en the sage and wise man. 

With the philosophers of the race. 
In essaying to solve these problems 

Have lost themselves in space. 
And have with naught returned again 

To supply these crying needs. 
Save indeed some theories base. 

With numberless conflicting creeds 



232 PRAYER OF MAN. 

Which, though in main may be of truth, 

And point the upper way, 
Are yet so contradictory 

As to lead the soul astray; 
For while most all men recognize 

A deathless part within, 
And through some help extraneous see 

The only hope for sin, 
Still, some sects, ignoring this, 

In worldly wMsdom wise 
Declare that Man must work his way 

In trembling to the skies; 
And while Almighty sovereignty 

Doth alone on God devolve, 
To fellow-worms they doth accord 

The functions to absolve ; 
Others still do boldly teach 

That religion's in the form, 
And only by the ritual 

Is Life Eternal born ; 
That church rites, wnth its polity, 

Is the only leaven rife. 
And hence its ceremonials 

Are essentials unto life ; 
Another yet doth ever strive 

To let the mortal know 
That all there is of punishment 



PR AVER OF MAN. 23c 

Doth here exist below; 
That, despite this moral turpitude, 

This sin-guilt under ban, 
A glorious future doth exist 

For universal Man ; 
While, opposed to this, another holds 

That they God's chosen be, 
And only those of Abraham's seed 

E'er reach the jasper sea; 
That the Christian's hope is all a mj-th, 

The Messiah yet to come. 
And by a firm belief in this 

Their work for Heaven is done. 
Besides all these, an hundred more, 

As complex as the mind. 
Construct a maze of doctrine 

That stultifies Mankind ; 
While surrounding all vast heathendom. 

Embracing most the race, 
With the earliest known theologies 

Doth also have a place. 
And this hath a thousand deities, 

With as many systems, too. 
And 'midst this host who ma}^ decide 

Which one of them is true? 
But if one's right, — and onl}^ one 

Could be of all the throng, — 
20* 



234 PRAYER OF MAN. 

Surely that one's inherent truth 

Would right the others' wrong ; 
And if on good and bad alike 

Falls sunshine and the rain, 
Verily this wisdom would exist 

That all men could obtain ; 
For beacon ne'er in Time was set 

To guide one favored bark, 
Leaving all other craft to strand 

And flounder in the dark ; 
The sun must either be obscured 

Or else on all must shine ; 
It can't illume another's way 

And cast a shade on mine ; 
But that these shadows do exist. 

While some claim perfect light. 
Is evidence incontestable 

Of all-pervading night. 
And thus it is some go so far 

As even to maintain 
That all these worlds uphold themselves 

And know no sovereign's reign ; 
That o'er these wide domains of space. 

Throughout creation broad, 
The veriest chance doth rule supreme, 

And Nature hath no Grod ; 
That from the Earth like grass we spring. 



PRAYER OF MAN. 235 

Like grass to fade away, 
That soul and body together tread 

The wine-press of decay ; 
That all this talk of future bliss 

In a glorious Heaven with thee, 
As well the tales of endless pains 

Through being's infinity. 
Are but creations of the mind, 

Fantasies of the brain, 
Launched forth upon humanity 

For profit and for gain. 
And this the blackness whence I came 

In trembling spirit here, 
By saving need oppressed, o'ercome, 

And crushed with mortal fear; 
But now that mine eyes hath seen 

The splendors of thy throne, 
Raised to a blest futurity 

Which may be made mine own. 
And since that mine ears hath heard 

Of the life revealed this day. 
The only want I e'er shall feel 

Is guidance by the way. 
I therefore ask of wisdom 

Which boundless dwells in thee. 
Knowledge suiScient to be wise 

For all eternity ; 



236 PRAYER OF MAN. 

I seek of that light effulgent 

Which beams o'er thy realms alone, 
A single ray to mark the road 

And be my beacon home ; 
While at thine hand a life-chart, 

With a compass, I implore, 
A pilot, too, to bring my bark 

To an immortal shore ; 
And since in truth a Heaven's above 

To which the righteous fly, 
And while in fact a Hell awaits 

The wicked when they die, 
Show me, I pray thee, my light, 

The upper-leading way. 
The road that to a deathless strand 

Doth lead, through Death, from clay; 
Teach me to live, while yet on Earth 

The years may for me run, 
In manner pure, sublime, and true, 

That to thee then I'll come 
And find in glory by thy side, 

Through all the cycles blest, 
The "living waters" framed in seas 

Of Heaven's eternal rest ; 
Lead me gently by the hand 

'Long a world's alluring wares, 
Safely my footsteps ever guide 



I 



PRAYER OF MAN. 237 

Past all its traps and suares; 
Direct me o'er life's tangled road, 

Hold fast my helm at sea, 
Full equip me for the fight. 

And may it end in thee. 



XIII. 

ImmortalitB to Mm. 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN, 



Oh, thou poor benighted earthling, 

Child of sorrow, sin, and shame. 
In the bonds of guilt enslaved, 

Branded with a felon's name, 
Yet withal the heir presumptive 

To a kingdom in the skies. 
Doomed to Death, but yet retaining 

That within which never dies, 
Glad am I to learn thy story 

And to hear thy spirit's cry. 
For of need must come the pinions 

That will bear thy soul on high ; 
Only he who seeks the fountain 

Stoopeth ever at its brink, 
While alone the parched and thirsty 

Cometh to the wells to drink ; 
Famished ones they are who cry out 

For the satisfying bread. 
And the heart must feel its hunger 

Ere it asketh to be fed. 

q 21 241 



242 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

All the wisdom then existent, 

E'en the light of Heaven's day, 
Would for naught avail the pilgrim, 

Lest indeed he sought the way ; 
But to him through want inquiring, 

Needless is it e'er to roam, 
While of truths the first revealed 

Is that Earth is not his home, — 
Not the place of his abiding 

Is this wrecked and storm-swept shore. 
For, with Eden's bowers in ruins, 

Hope of life for Time is o'er; 
All that here could e'er sustain it 

Hath departed with the wave. 
And the only thing remaining 

Is its journey to the Grave ; 
Every force below doth deaden, 

Outright kills, or wastes away, 
Hence these realms have no conditions 

Under which the soul could stay. 
Too much mildew. 

Too much blight, 
Too much shadow, 

Too much night, 
Too much freezing, 

Too much heat, 
Too much rainfall, 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 243 

Too much sleet, 
Too much changing, 

Too much flow, 
Too much shifting, 

Too much blow, 
Too much misting, 

Too much fog, 
Too much marsh land, 

Too much bog, 
Too much desert, 

Too much steep. 
Too much jungle, 

Too much deep. 
Too much refuse. 

Too much dross. 
Too much lichen, 

Too much moss. 
Too much friction, 

Too much rust. 
Too much canker. 

Too much dust. 
Too much breaking, 

Too much wear. 
Too much rending, 

Too much tear. 
Too much blemish, 

Too much stain, 



244 IMMORTALITY TO MAN.- 

Too much trial, 

Too much pain, 
Too much striving, 

Too much fray, 
Too much crumbling, 

Too much decay, 
Too much Death 

On this twilight sphere 
For aught to attain 

Perfection here. 
Not enough of sunshine. 

Not enough of calm. 
Not enough of comfort. 

Not enough of balm. 
Not enough to strengthen, 

Not enough to cheer. 
Not enough that's open. 

Not enough that's clear, 
Not enough of morning. 

Not enough of air. 
Not enough that's beautiful, 

Not enough that's fair, 
Not enough of spring-time, 

Not enough of bloom. 
Not enough of altitude. 

Not enough of room, 
Not enough of freshness 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 245 

Not enough of light, 
Not enough that's joyous, 

Not enough that's bright, 
Not enough of melody. 

Not enough of lays, 
Not enough of rapture, 

Not enough of praise. 
Not enough of innocence, 

Not enough of youth. 
Not enough of blessedness, 

Not enough of truth, 
Not enough ennobling. 

Not enough inspires. 
Not enough that quickens, 

Not enough that fires. 
Not enough that's holy, 

Not enough that's pure, 
Not enough substantial, 

Not enough secure, 
Not enough enduring. 

In all these realms so wide, 
'Midst which a thing eternal 

Could e'en in the flesh reside, 
"Well enough for gi-asses 

Whose life is but a day, 
Well enough for flowerets 

That bud to fade away, 
21* 



24G IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Well enough for dew-drops 

Which, glistening, disappear, 
Well enough for leaflets 

That last but a season here, 
Well enough for babbling brooks 

Which e'er through lowlands wend. 
Well enough for rivers broad 

That on to oceans tend, 
Well enough for birdlings 

Which plume their wings for flight. 
Well enough for fleecy clouds 

That soon are lost to sight, 
Well enough for harvests 

Which ripen but to fall, 
Well enough for summer's bloom 

That sears at autumn's call. 
Well enough for torrents wild 

Which vanish with their flow, 
Well enough for passing storms 

That perish as the}'' blow. 
Well enough for angry waves 

Which break on rock-bound strands, 
Well enough for rain and flood 

Absorbed by parched lands, 
Well enough for changing skies 

Which darkness shroudeth o'er, 
Well enouffh for restless seas 



IMMORTALITF TO MAN. 247 

That wash a pilgrim shore, 
Well enough for sterile wastes 

Enslaved in thorny bands, 
Well enough for deserts drear 

Engulfed by shifting sands, 
Well enough for polar wilds 

Which the frost-king bindeth fast, 
Well enough for tropic realms 

Consumed by torrid blast. 
Well enough for fleeting days 

Which e'er with eve decline, 
Well enough for terrestrial orbs 

That alone 'mid shadows shine, 
Well enough for grovelling things 

All futureless here alone. 
Well enough for brutes and beasts 

That have no other home, 
Well enough for objects 

Which these earth-realms satisfy, 
But scarce a dropping for the thirst 

Of souls which cannot die : 
These all require the changeless scenes 

Of heights eternal born, 
The Almighty vigor, heavenly dews 

Of everlasting morn, 
The calms of a sinless Eden 

Which may not pass away, , 



248 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

The radiance grand, unending, 

Of uncreated day, 
The unwasting floods of shadeless light 

Which beam from cloudless skies. 
The living green of Canaan's fields 

Whose verdure never dies, 
The bloom of Omnipotent fulness 

Luxuriant in fadeless bowers, 
The sweets of immortal fragrance 

Exhaled by deathless flowers, 
The airs of immaculate purity 

Wafted those high realms o'er, 
The unwithering spring-time of delight 

Which reigns o'er a graveless shore, 
The founts of God-given waters 

Forever flowing, blest 
Salvation welling up to life 

In tideless seas of rest, 
E'en the raptures of a residence 

With Redemption's Lord above, 
The glory reigning in His presence 

Through an eternity of His love. 
And hence for these imperishable. 

With a destiny divine, 
Life hath but its dawning 

Behind the hills of Time ; 
This is but the seeding. 



IMMORTALITV TO MAN. 249 

• The harvest's by and by, 
And then o'erflowing garners 

Of blessedness on high ; 
This is alone the season 

For the dressing of the vine 
To a glorious, priceless vintage 

In a more exalted clime ; 
Only this the quarrjing. 

Beneath a torrid sun. 
For a nobler temple building 

In a better land to come ; 
Merely here the hewing 

On the hill's bleak sides alone, 
But the King says, after Lebanon 

Is eternal rest at home 
In a palace bright of glory. 

Designed for the heir to be, 
On the site of a Saviour's purchase, 

But of stones here shaped by thee. 
In view, then, of this heritage, 

It doth behoove each one 
To seek at once the allotted task, 

Nor weary when it come ; 
For every single human being 

On the Earth some place doth fill. 
And to each, whate'er his station, 

Comes a mission to fulfil ; 



250 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Perchance 'tis 'mid surroundings lowly, 

Maybe on peaks of greatness grand, 
Still, before him God sets dxxlj, 

Work of life for heart and hand j 
And till this is all accomplished, 

And the course is fully run, 
Man is like the mountains round him, 

Deathless till his work is done ; 
But when Death at last o'ertakes him, 

Sure it is Time's part's replete, 
Thereafter in the boundless future 

The framework's set and made complete ; 
Likewise every soul doth have its burdens 

In the vale of mortal night. 
But remember 'tis 'mid shadows 

Thou art building unto light, 
And e'en though each earthly toiler 

Bears some heavy cross through Time, 
That affliction is the sculptor 

Sent to deck the house Divine ; 
While of other woes assailing, — 

Pangs and heartaches every one, — 
These are all of wayward sowing 

Or of heedless labor done ; 
Hence every root of bitterness 

Which in thy life is found 
Hath sprung of thought and action 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 251 

With which that life is crowned ; 
All these thorns and thistles 

Which in thy pathway grow 
Are but the ripening harvests 

Of the seedings long ago ; 
While all this ashen fruitaare 

Which is thy present store 
Hath come of thine own planting, 

In unguarded hours, before ; 
For as the tree so is the fruit, 

The grain doth the seed's form keep, 
" Of whatsoever, therefore, thou so west. 

That also thou shalt reap." 
And though this sowing's all 

For another sphere. 
The first-fruits of the harvest 

Are always gathered here ; 
Though the planting and the dressing 

Is all for other lands, 
Some clusters of the vintage 

Are pressed by earthen hands ; 
And though the hewing and the quarrying 

Is all for realms divine. 
The foundations of the structure 

Are ever laid in Time ; 
While of all the varied builders, 

Weak and strong, the small and great, 



252 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Unto each the task's apportioned 

Which for place doth compensate. 
Then act well thy part, 

Whate'er it be, 
Since all are building 

For eternity : 
Building on the rock 

A house to stand, 
Or quaking huts 

Upon the sand ; 
Castles immovable 

By the mountain's wall, 
Or tottering hovels 

On the beach to fall ; 
Palaces for Heaven, 

On its heights to dwell, 
Or hideous dungeons 

For the slopes of Hell. 
Lay, then, in Godliness 

Foundations sure 
That to all the future 

Must endure. 
Fashion of piety 

A structure grand 
That shall rear its dome 

In a nobler land, 
While of holiness build 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 253 

A temple bright 
That will shine resplendent 

On the hills of light ; 
Then, 'midst the crash 

Of world 'gainst world, 
As sun and system 

Are to fragments hurled, 
When tongues of fire 

Lick ocean dry 
And falling pillars 

Rend the sky, 
"When destruction sweeps 

This fated shore 
And things of Time 

And sense are o'er, 
When hurrying doom 

Blots out the day 
And the heavens and Earth 

Do pass away, 
Serenely mayst thou 

Witness all. 
For thine is a house 

Which may not fall, — 
A mansion eternal 

On immortal strands, 
" A building of God 

Not made with hands." 
22 



25-4 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Be faithful, then, 

In duty's sphere. 
The reward lies hence. 

But the blessing's here ; 
'Tis for the toilers, 

Not the drones, 
That e'en this Earth-land 

Hath its homes ; 
Not to the skulker 

Who hath fled, 
The world weaves chaplets 

For the conqueror's head 
The race is never 

To the faint, 
It takes the hero 

To make a saint ; 
"While e'en below 

'Tis the sailor tried 
Who alone can sail 

O'er the ocean wide. 
Then think not to win 

A crown of life 
By remaining passive 

In the strife, 
Hope not to attain 

Eternal day 
By listless lagging 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN 255 

'Long the way, 
Nor yet to reach 

Immortal shores 
By resting idly 

On thine oars ; 
No, onward, upward, 

Is the cry 
Which leads triumphant 

To the sky, 
The battle's din 

Will not be done 
Till the last of foes 

Is overcome. 
And he who would 

Obtain life's prize 
Must wield the sword 

Until he dies ; 
The call to lay 

His armor by 
Will come with victory's 

Palms on high ; 
The road is tortuous, 

Narrow, steep, 
'Long mountain-sides, 

O'er a yawning deep ; 
From every glen 

A siren calls, 



25 G IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

At every turn 

Some j)ilgrim falls, 
And only those 

Whose footing's sure 
Will ever to the rest 

Above endure. 
The course lies o'er 

A treacherous main 
In abject thraldom 

To the storm-king's reign, 
Where sunken reef 

And hidden shoal 
Like beasts of prey 

Confront the soul, 
And alone by chart 

Divinely given 
Can the helmsman steer 

'Twixt these to Heaven. 
'Tis the steadfast, therefoi'c. 

Who alone prevail, 
The piloted ship 

That rides the gale, 
The loyal heir 

Who mounts the throne. 
And the lamp-lit feet 

Which journey home ; 
For while the service 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 257 

Hath its woes, 
And all the way 

Is lined with foes, 
Though temjDests rage 

And waters roar, 
While rocks and breakers 

Fringe the shore. 
Still, truth's anchor 

Holdeth fast, 
Its compass leads 

To land at last. 
Its breastplate ever 

Doth withstand, 
Till Canaan greets 

Its guiding hand ; 
And yet the runner here 

Who would succeed 
Must drop all that 

Which could impede, 
The warrior true. 

With his sword drawn, 
Must liave naught else 

But armor on ; 
Thou canst not journey 

With the throng, 
Nor expect to take 

The world along, 
22* 



258 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

But with every weight 

And drag o'ercast, 
Firm at thy post 

Before the mast, 
Commit thy bark 

Unto the w^ave, 
And the God of promise 

Then wMll save ; 
For no wall surrounds salvation, 

It hath no stile nor stair, 
But, a gift sublime of Heaven, 

'Tis full and free as air ; 
And as of this existence 

Earth's breath doth e'er receive, 
So in this upper atmosphere 

'Tis life but to believe. 
Hence by simple trust, 

"With duty done, 
The victory is 

Forever won. 
The rest secured. 

The home obtained. 
An eternal crown 

And kingdom gained, 
The title deed 

To glory given. 
And clearance with it 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 259 

For the port of Heaven. 
Awake, then, from thy lethargy. 

Dispel all thy fears, 
Cast out thy misgivings 

And dry up thy tears; 
'Tis a Father's voice 

Which calls on high, 
And through all thy straits 

He will be nigh ; 
The ear which hears 

The feeblest sigh 
Is ever open 

To the servant's cry ; 
The eye which notes 

The sparrow's fall 
Doth e'er enfold 

The loved ones all; 
The hand out which 

The ravens feed 
Will sure suppl}" 

The children's need ; 
The care which doth 

The rose adorn 
Will never leave 

The heir forlorn ; 
While the love which gave 

A Son to die 



1 



260 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Will bring His jewels 

To the sky. 
And as for storms 

Which intervene, — 
The clouds and night 

Which lie between, — 
Do not the same 

Attend each change 
Throughout the realms 

Of Nature's range ? 
Icy blasts 

Precede the spring, 
Continuous showers 

The flowerets bring. 
Out of mistings 

Comes the morn, 
Of the darkness 

Day is born. 
The evening's not 

Till setting sun. 
But with its shadows 

Work is done, 
And dost thou sigh 

When the day of toil is run, 
For that the season 

Of repose hath come ? 
Art thou sad 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 261 

When the blackness flees away 
And the rising sun 

Proclaims the day? 
Dost thou regret 

The winter past 
When the spring puts forth 

Its bloom at last ? 
Or dost thou weep 

When calms smooth out the seas 
And the storm is hushed 

Along the leas ? 
If then so tranquil 

When Earth's throbbings cease, 
What mean these repinings 

At the soul's release ? 
Why frown the end 

Of trouble's lease, 
Or start and quiver 

In the lap of peace ? 
Or why seek phantoms 

For thy fears 
Here at the close 

Of sorrow's years ? 
Why, the very forms 

Which thee affright 
Are ministering angels 

In their flight, 



262 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

The very objects 

Of thy fear 
Are celestial messengers 

Drawing near, 
While in the darkest vale 

Of mortal dread 
The light of life 

Doth shine instead ; 
E'en "the Jordan's" flood, 

With frigid wave, 
Which here appalls thee 

As it laps the Grave, 
Breaks into rapturous welcomes 

On the farther shore 
To those who'll breast 

Its surge no more. 
There is no Death ; 

Life's sunset here 
Is eternal dawn 

In an immortal sphere. 
And what seems so 's but a vapor 

Of the Earth, evening born, 
Naught but a mist 

Through which cometh morn ; 
Only a dividing line 

At the horizon thin, 
Where these moi'tal shades end 



^i 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 263 

And Heaven's glories begin ; 
Merely transition 

From darkness to light, 
The day-star emerging 

From the shadows of niffht ; 
Simply a shifting of scene 

For what the finite styles breath, 
And but the scene-shifter 

Whom the mortal calls Death ; 
Albeit a glorious release 

From the material bond 
Of first conditions, 

And a stride beyond, 
A grand uprising 

From Earth's basement gloom 
To the shadeless light 

Of life's upper room, 
A blest promotion 

From Time's carnal rule 
To the eternal courses 

Of an immortal school, 
A passing over 

This flesh divide 
To the infinite areas 

Of the other side, 
A pressing on 

From creation's bounds 



264 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

To the Omniscient progression 

Of the cycle's rounds, 
Only bidding adieu 

To these bleak wilds of pain, 
To begin life anew 

On a loftier plane ; 
Neither is there aught destructive 

In the Grave's decay, 
But simply a refining 

Of the dross away, 
A renewing and cleansing 

From the filth of Earth. 
A corruptible prelude 

To a heavenly birth, 
A sowing of mortality 

In the valleys of Time 
To an immortal harvest 

In life's fields divine, 
A planting of weakness 

To a vintage of might, 
A prologue of dishonor 

To a kingdom of light; 
Solely the putting oif 

Of a garb forlorn 
To don the vestments 

Which by saints are worn, 
The leaving behind, 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 265 

To rot in store, 
Of the raiment unsuited 

To a deathless shore ; 
Only a hiding from sight 

Of the toiler's clothes 
As the heir, reclaimed, 

To his birthright goes; 
Simply the returning to Earth 

Of its subject gown 
As the prince, in his banishment. 

Receives the crown ; 
For this pulsating robe 

Of gilded dust, 
Polluted and tarnished 

With sin's moth and rust. 
Abandoned and cast 

Aside must be 
Ei'e its wearer's 

Eyes can see 
A single glory 

Which belongs to me. 
Still, only for Time; 

A blest reunion will come, 
Then, to all eternity glorified, 

They reign on as one. 



M 23 



266 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

But hark! the Infinite speaketh, 

Open thine ear 
To covenants eternal 

That will banish thy fear: 
"Behold, I am with thee, 

Oh, be not dismayed, 
I, even I, am He 

Whom thy ransom hath paid ; 
I've given both Ethiopia 

And Egypt for thee, 
The rich realm of Seba 

And the isles of the sea ; 
Though the waters rage round, 

They shall ne'er thee o'erflow, 
But through all the billows 

Dry-shod thou shalt go; 
And though into the furnace 

Thou mayst have call, 
My presence e'en there 

Will surround as a wall ; 
Though all Hell conspire against thee, 

It shall ne'er do thee harm. 
For I will uphold thee 

With an Almighty arm, 
And e'en to old age 

I will ever maintain. 
And on to hoar hairs 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 267 

Will I cheer and sustain ; 
When thy father forsakes thee 

And e'en mother-love's flown, 
When all bid thee go, 

Yet I'll not disown. 
But to all the future, 

As from all the past, 
My love, Almighty, unchanging, 

Enduring, shall last ; 
When the deep's swept by tempests 

And the seas seem to o'erwhelm, 
Still, be of good cheer, 

My hand's at the helm, 
And safe through all dangers 

I'll bring thee to land, 
For the waters obey me 

And the winds I command ; 
When foes press thee hard. 

And thou art ready to yield. 
Then new courage take, 

I am thy shield ; 
' At all times my grace 

Is sufficient for thee, 
And my strength in thy weakness 

Made perfect shall be ;' 
When lost in the sloughs 

Where dragons abide, 



268 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Look then unto me, 

I'll be thy guide, 
And through the mazes and shadows 

Of this Death-clouded way 
I'll direct and I'll bring thee 

To the brightness of day; 
When thou goest through 'the valley,' 

I will be near, 
And my rod and my staff 

They shall comfort and cheei'. 
"While here in these arms. 

Folded close to my breast, 
O'er the last foe triumphant 

I will bear thee to rest ; 
And when after thy skin 

Worms this body destroy. 
Then a form incorruptible 

I will give thee in joy, 
Glorious raiment immortal 

For the soul to put on. 
When these poor mortal rags 

Are all perished and gone ; 
For I am the Lord, 

Thy Saviour and God, 
Gathering my children 

From near and abroad, 
Tenderly leading 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 269 

O'er life's rugged road 
To the glories unutterable 

Of a saintly abode, 
Guiding the bark 

Through the swelling and storm 
Till the calms of the haven 

Eeceiveth its form, 
Noting the conflict 

With an e'er-watchful eye 
Till the victor is crowned 

With the laurel on high, 
Following closely the wanderer 

In his exile alone, 
And ne'er leaving his side 

Till he's safe housed at home 
In the mansions eternal 

Which in thy Father's house be, 
That thine own Elder Brother's 

Now preparing for thee; 
Home in the gi*and 'guest-chamber,' 

Where the banner o'er is love. 
To that unspeakable reunion 

In the ' banqueting house' above ; 
Home to the rapturous ingathering 

Of a blood-washed kindred band. 
To the heavenly recognition 

Of the blessed Fatherland ; 
23* 



270 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Home for all eternity 

For ever and for aye, 
To the uncreated excellence 

Of a nameless, endless day, 
To the praises grand, victorious. 

Hymned by Earth's saved alone 
In the everlasting celebration 

Of an immortal ' harvest homo.' ' 



And yet, between all this and thee 

Exists but a point of Time, 
Perchance but another heart-beat 

And these I'aptures all are thine ; 
Only another breath drawn, 

Maybe but one more sigh, 
Till all these fadeless glories 

Enfold thy soul on high ; 
A little longer sojourn 

In this alien desert land. 
And a crown will clasp thy forehead 

And a sceptre grace thine hand ; 
A few more fleeting shades, 

Perhaps yet another night. 
And then, — oh, blest awakening 

From darkness into light! 
At most another earth-day, 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 271 

Its heats and burdens borne, 
Closed with a jieaceful sunset, 

Then Heaven's eternal morn. 
E'en now the glory pierceth 

The rifts in this mortal cloud, 
And oft on Earth's expectant ear 

The music falls aloud ; 
The mists about the border 

Thou art already passing through. 
And e'en now above thy brow appears 

Droppings of the ether dew ; 
Soon now the journey endeth, 

Thy bark fast neareth land, 
Thine earth-night now is almost spent, 

For the morning is at hand ; 
E'en now thy footsteps press the brink. 

And there, beside the shore, 
Await the loved of long ago 

To bear thy spirit o'er 
To the land of wondi^ous story, 

To the realms of matchless love. 
To the kingdom blest, celestial. 

Where thy Father reigns above ; 
And though truly yet in exile, — 

A pilgrim sad, alone, — 
Still, all these ills and cares surrounding 

Are but heralds of the summons home. 



272 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Behold, then, these silent messengers, 

Hearken to their mute a^Dpeal ; 
See, they cling e'en to thy garments 

And into thy dwelling steal: 
These feeble limbs, 

These palsied hands, 
Is futurity beckoning 

To immortal lands ; 
This broken speech. 

This stammering tongue, 
Is Life's Morning whispering 

That Earth's evening's come ; 
This bended form. 

This shrivelled skin. 
Is eternity knocking 

For the tenant within; 
These beclouded eyes. 

These stopped-up ears, 
Proclaim to the soul 

That its Heaven appears; 
While the nearing radiance 

Falls and grows apace 
On these whitening locks 

And this Time-seamed face ; 
For didst thy sojourn last forever, 

Forever, then, thine house would stand, 
And 'tis thus this crumbling round thee. 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 273 

All denotes a pilgrim land ; 
Was this darkness e'er to smite thee, 

Then would the night be longer drawn ; 
What, then, mean these rising vapors 

Which do e'er foretell the dawn ? 
Were these seas so deep and boundless, 

Smoothly wouldst thou sail them o'er; 
Then, do not life's jai's admonish 

That thy keel's now grating shore? 
Had this weary way no ending. 

Then would thy feet be better shod ; 
What, then, can Time's wear betoken 

Other than the rest of God ? 
Or did Earth's conflicts never cease. 

Valiant then thy soul would be ; 
Whence, then, all these anxious yearnings, 

If not pointing to eternity? 
Ah ! thine is God's image, 

After His likeness is thy frame, 
And never, never this can Earth efface, 

Though all its shades may once profane ; 
The breath which floods thy nostrils 

Is a spring from the living main, 
And, like a storm-tossed vapor, here 

Dissolves yet appears again 
To soar in matchless splendors 

The vaults of ethereal skies. 



274 " IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

A nameless part of the eternal God, 

A something which never dies. 
More than this I may not tell, 

Nor draw the veil aside 
Upon the wonders that await 

The spirit glorified ; 
But be patient only yet a little while, 

And then thy soul will be 
Eaised to the lofty honors 

Which are its destiny ; 
Then all the incomprehensible 

Hedging round existence here, 
In that full noontide of brightness 

Will be open, plain, and clear ; 
Then this understanding finite 

Into an all-discerning thing will change, 
And this narrow mortal vision 

Will put on Omniscient range; 
Then eternal knowledge will replace 

This contracted earthly lore, 
And all the future, like the past. 

Be mapped the mind before ; 
Then, while thj'- footsteps tread 

The mansions of the just, 
A light from God will mark the road 

Which leadeth up from dust ; 
Then Death's dark mission will be told, 



IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 275 

And why the body dies, 
As also how the Grave's decay 

Dotli fit it for the skies ; 
Then the purposes of affliction, 

As well the cares of Time, 
Will all be seen in living light 

And felt in joj's divine ; 
Then the mysteries of creation, 

The wonders of redeeming love, 
The marvels of a resurrection morning. 

Will all bo known above ; 
Then only will thy spirit comprehend, 

While thine eyes, unshaded, see 
The full measure of the ecstasies 

Which are hidden now in me, 
To which all earthly pomp and splendor. 

In their most sublime display. 
Cannot for a moment more be likened 

Than can night compare with day. 
Therefore, all these tribulations. 

All the ills this life doth yield. 
Are but stepping-stones to the glory 

Which in thee shall be revealed, 
Are but rungs upon the ladder 

Whence existence climbs the height. 
Scales the mount its home commanding, 
Plumes its wings and takes its flight ; 



276 IMMORTALITY TO MAN. 

Merely are life's fetters dropping, 

Snappings of these carnal chains, 
Falling bolts from off the dungeon 

Whence the soul its Heaven attains 
Voices only from the Eternal calling 

Into the shades of mortal night, 
" I created, then redeemed thee. 

And 'tis thus I lead to light." 
Whence, then, these fears, 

And why repine. 
Since all of Earth 

And Heaven are thine ? 
E'en immortal realms 

Which being sods, 
For thou art Christ's 

And Christ is God's; 
But though truly thus 

My child to be, 
Earth hath yet 

A day for thee; 
But when that is ended, 

Then I'll see. 
And will tell thee all 

In eternity. 



Thus another dream 
Of life was broken, 



IMMORTALITF TO MAN. 277 

Which, departing, 

Left no tolcen 
Save the memory 

Of that promise spoken; 
But this shall ever fill 

The dreamer's ears, 
Eevive his hopes 

And quench his fears; 
Then after the flight 

Of these mortal years, 
With the journey ended 

Through this "vale of tears," 
May both he and the reader 

See and feel and hear 
That immortal all 

In its deathless sphere. 



THE END. 



Printed bv J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. 



